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National issues creeping into Florida governor's race

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By WILLIAM MARCH | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 28, 2009

Hoping to capitalize on President Barack Obama's declining popularity in Florida, Republican governor candidate Bill McCollum is trying to tie his Democratic opponent, Alex Sink, to Obama and national issues pushed by Democrats.

McCollum has pressed Sink to take stands on whether a national health care reform plan should include a public option, and on the "card-check" proposal now in Congress that would make it easier for workers to organize unions.

Those proposals, he notes, are backed by national-level Democrats and organized labor, who support Sink.

Sink has refused to take the bait, even after a McCollum backer in a duck suit showed up at a Sink news conference this week to suggest she's "ducking" questions.

She responds that McCollum is trying to divert attention from a failing state economy and that she's focusing on state issues that matter to Floridians.

But as long as McCollum believes he can use national issues to put Sink on the defensive, he's not likely to quit.

He even sent a tongue-in-cheek message to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday, the day she accompanied Obama to Florida.

"Since my attempts to get an answer from CFO Sink on where she stands on the public option for health care insurance have gone unanswered, perhaps Speaker Pelosi would have better luck," he said in a campaign news release.

There's a political strategy behind the questions, said University of Central Florida political scientist Aubrey Jewett.

He said McCollum hopes to nationalize the race, just as Democrats did in 2008, capitalizing on George Bush's unpopularity.

"McCollum is picking issues where he thinks the average Florida voter will be on his side," Jewett said, "and obviously, [Sink] must be thinking the standard Democratic position is not popular in Florida."

Obama's personal approval ratings in Florida dropped to 51 percent in Florida in August, down from 67 percent in January, according to Quinnipiac University's Polling Institute. His 47 percent job approval rating in August was the lowest of any state it polled, the institute said.

At a campaign stop in Tampa last month, Sink got an endorsement from the Alliance of Retired Americans, a labor-allied retiree group, but declined to say whether she agrees with the group's backing of a public option.

"We need health care reform, particularly here in Florida, where almost 24 percent of Floridians under 65 don't have health insurance," she said. But, she said, a governor's main concern should be the plan's effect on Medicaid, a huge component of the state budget.

Asked Tuesday whether Florida should opt out of a federal health care reform plan, as some congressional proposals would allow, Sink said it's impossible to say without knowing the details of the plan.

Asked whether Obama's popularity will affect her own, she said, "I'm very focused on Florida, and what people in Florida are telling me their everyday problems are. All I'm hearing is, it's about the economy, jobs, access to credit. … There are plenty of other people that focus on Washington issues."

McCollum has reason to be looking for weak spots to attack Sink.

Even though the election is more than a year off, Sink looks like the most competitive Democratic candidate for governor in more than a decade – the first in years to have raised more money than her Republican opponent.

She trails in polls by single-digit or low double-digit margins, but Democrats say that's because she's less well-known than McCollum, who is now in his fourth statewide race. As more voters get to know her, some experts believe, she has a better chance to gain support.

The card-check bill would allow workers to get union representation if a majority signs representation cards without allowing company management to require a secret-ballot vote. It has long been a top priority of organized labor.

McCollum calls it a state issue because some GOP state legislators are promoting a state constitutional amendment to prevent the bill from taking effect in Florida, though legal experts question whether that's possible.

He has drawn political allies into the fray, even getting the only black Republican state legislator, Jennifer Carroll, to put out a statement suggesting the card-check law would curtail voting rights.

Sink responded with a campaign statement emphasizing his history as a career politician.

"Bill McCollum spent 20 years in Congress and six years as a paid Washington lobbyist, which must explain his obsession with federal issues. General McCollum's refusal to concentrate on state issues … is bad for Florida," the statement said.

McCollum and his duck supporter – who wouldn't identify himself to reporters -- also accused Sink of lacking transparency because she has declined to say how many campaign contributions she received through Emily's List.

Emily's List, a national political organization, recruits contributions from its members to pro-choice women candidates it endorses. it then transmits the contributions to the campaigns.

Sink campaign manager Paul Dunn noted that the contributions are reported as individual donations, as legally required; there is no legal requirement to identify them as Emily's List contributions.

Dunn also noted that McCollum has refused to say where he stands on a proposed state constitutional amendment that would define human life as starting at conception, a proposal experts say could outlaw popular forms of birth control.

McCollum, who calls himself "firmly pro-life," initially declined last month to take a stand on the amendment. When asked Wednesday for clarification, he said, "I would have difficulty supporting this proposed amendment in its current form."

McCollum co-sponsored similar legislation, which drew the same criticism, in Congress in 1988. But spokeswoman Shannon Gravitte said he doesn't support banning contraception and didn't think the 1988 legislation would do that.

Dunn's reponse: "Clearly he's unable to provide answers and actions on things that matter to Florida.

"Alex Sink is very focused on issues that matter to Floridians – that the pension system is secure, that we're cutting waste out of government and bringing in new jobs. She's uniquely qualified as a business leader, as opposed to a career politician."

Jewett, however, questioned whether Sink can continue to dodge McCollum's attacks.

"She obviously at some point will have to address a lot of issues," he said. "Governors all over the country will probably weigh in" on such issues as card-check, if it comes to a vote.

Meanwhile, he said, "Her strategy is to keep it focused on Florida issues where her business background and image as a moderate will help her."

Tribune reporter Catherine Dolinski contributed to this report. Reporter William March can be reached at (813) 259-7761.

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