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Russert Was A Fixture At Florida Debates

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By WILLIAM MARCH | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 13, 2008

Tim Russert had an interest in Florida politics that led him to come here frequently as a debate moderator in important state races - and on occasion even made him an issue in those races.

Several of those debates were in Tampa under the auspices of WFLA-TV.

Russert first drew statewide notice in a Florida race in 1994, moderating the debate between the late Gov. Lawton Chiles and Jeb Bush. Chiles' folksy language appeared to overwhelm Bush's focus on policy details in the debate, and Chiles went on to win re-election by a razor-thin margin, aided by the debate.

Russert has moderated major Florida debates in nearly every election cycle since – U.S. Sen. Bob Graham vs. Charlie Crist, then a state senator challenging Graham's re-election in 1998; Bill McCollum vs. Bill Nelson for the U.S. Senate in 2000; Bill McBride challenging Gov. Jeb Bush in 2002; and Betty Castor vs. Mel Martinez for U.S. Senate in 2004.

In 2002, critics charged that Russert pressed McBride harder than Bush on a question neither candidate had a good answer for – how to pay the cost of the state constitutional amendment then on the ballot and expected to pass, to lower school class sizes.

Bush's lead over McBride widened after that debate and he won re-election easily.

In 2004, Martinez initially refused to meet Castor in a Russert-hosted debate with a Meet The Press format, asking instead for state reporters to form a questioning panel. Critics charged that Martinez wanted to avoid the Russert's spontaneous questioning and stick to a more structured format with less chance for follow-up questions.

Martinez eventually agreed to a Russert debate with a structured format.

In a statement Friday, Martinez called Russert "a giant of journalism and an institution in Washington. He was clearly a man who took great pride in his work and he understood the serious nature of journalism."

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