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No Buzz Here As Pasco Picks More Of Same

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By TOM JACKSON

tjackson@tampatrib.com

Published: November 7, 2008

Alert citizens residing within the cozy confines of Pasco County can be forgiven if they are not caught up in, oh, what was it MSNBC.com called it? Ah, here it is: "Beltway Buzzes Over Obama Transition."

Not that we are entirely incurious about the new golden age of government intrusiveness. But if Tuesday's vote totals are a reliable guide, Nature Coasters prefer breathing free over the expensive charms of "change" emanating from the buzzing Beltway.

Indeed, whether by reassuring pluralities or distinct and jarring majorities, Pasco voters expressed a uniform preference for more of the same. From the top of the ballot right through the last of the state constitutional initiatives, Pasco preferred the status quo.

This, in a state that invited whiplash in its brusque turn from history, is no small happenstance, particularly given that Pasco embraced change before change was cool. But in 2008, Pasco was downright (and in some cases emphatically) stodgy, delivering a reassuring signal to fans of well-beaten paths - not all of whom are conservatives. Some just like proven performance.
Breaking with Tradition
While maintaining their allegiance to the GOP presidential nominee for the second consecutive election, county voters paddled upstream against the insistent froth of long-honored traditions. For the first time in nearly a half-century, going back to Pasco's Mayberry days and the venerable Leslie Bessenger, a sheriff won a third-term bid. For only the third time in a dozen elections since the 1980s, the county commission survived intact.

And so it went. Despite (or perhaps as a result of) enthusiastic resistance from the school employees union, Superintendent Heather Fiorentino nailed down a second four-year term. Brian Corley, the appointed elections supervisor, and Paula O'Neil, the all-but-official county clerk, turned demonstrated competence into ballot-box gold in the face of snarky attacks.

Sealing the case for local contentment was Pasco's role, which could be described as "piling on," in the resounding re-elections of state and federal representatives. OK, a southwest sliver of Pasco, which votes with Pinellas in state House District 48 and caught Obamamania, preferred a challenger (Democrat Carl Zimmermann) over an incumbent (the GOP's Peter Nehr), to little avail.

New Challengers, Please

Many of the challengers will not be missed. Execrable white separatist John Ubele, who sought to displace state Rep. John Legg, overstayed his 15 minutes of fame. Carrollwood lawyer Bill Mitchell, the Democrats' lightweight nominee for Gus Bilirakis' congressional seat, oversaw a campaign that morphed from tawdry and desperate in the primary to undignified and petty in the general.

As for perennial Ginny Brown-Waite thorn John Russell, the bright but abrasive Democratic nurse practitioner from Dade City, back-to-back 20-point drubbings in pursuit of a seat in Congress are persuasive evidence that unleavened bombast won't sell.

Bye-bye also to Terri Conroy, who repeatedly confessed she lacked what was needed - a magic wand - to depose commission fixture Ann Hildebrand, and to the able Ginny Miller, who got out-hustled by the energetic and engaged Jack Mariano.

Change? That's for Beltway buzz freaks, not the contented folks around here.

Tom Jackson can be reached at (813) 948-4219.

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