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Journalism 'Giant' Played A Key Role In Florida Politics

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By WILLIAM MARCH

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 14, 2008

TAMPA - 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, News Channel 8.

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. After calling himself the "old he-coon" in the debate to the delight of his supporters, but completely mystifying Bush, Chiles went on to win re-election by a razor-thin margin.

Russert has moderated major Florida debates in nearly every election cycle since - U.S. Sen. Bob Graham versus Charlie Crist, then a state senator challenging Graham's re-election in 1998; Bill McCollum versus Bill Nelson for the U.S. Senate in 2000; Bill McBride challenging Gov. Jeb Bush in 2002; and Betty Castor versus Mel Martinez for the 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 on the ballot and expected to pass, to lower school class sizes.

Bush's lead over McBride widened after the 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 Russert's spontaneous questioning and stick to a 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."

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