At a news conference in Tampa on Wednesday, Jeb Bush -- who was also chairman of his brother's 2000 campaign in Florida -praised his brother's education policies, his handling of the 2001 terrorist attacks, his tax cuts and his efforts to stop off-shore drilling along Florida's coastline.
"President Bush has been good to Florida," the governor said, "and Floridians will be good to him in November."
Polls suggest that the president is on much firmer ground in Florida than he was in 2000, partly because the economy has not suffered as much here as in other states and because many military families who support the war in Iraq live here. But the main reason behind the president's growing support here is his brother's popularity as governor, political scientists say.
AND "JEB!" BEGINS BY "UNLEASH[ING] A RIVER OF RIDICULE" -
Gov. Jeb Bush unleashed a river of ridicule Wednesday at the expense of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, the Democratic front-runner in the race to challenge Bush's presidential brother next year for the White House. The Florida governor chided Dean for having led a tiny state ''half the size of Miami-Dade County,'' labeling him a candidate for ``hot, angry people that aren't rational.'' . . . ''Dean's my man. I'm a big Dean guy,'' said Gov. Bush, his voice dripping with the kind of sarcasm he has often used to chide political opponents. ``I think being governor of a state that's got a budget half the size of Miami-Dade County makes him imminently qualified to be the Democratic candidate.''
Gov. Bush, appearing Wednesday at a Tampa hotel with officials from his brother's reelection campaign, made his remarks following the formal news conference -- after a Herald reporter inquired who the strongest Democratic challenger to the president would be.
The governor then referred to a protester who disrupted the event by charging the stage full of GOP dignitaries and Bush-Cheney campaign manager Ken Mehlman, asking, ``What planet are you on?''
''I bet he's a Dean supporter,'' Bush said. "The hot, angry people that aren't rational and are screaming and hollering, they may be drawn toward the Dean candidacy because he's focused his campaign on trying to connect with that anger, which is a small part of the population of our country.'' "Gov. Bush ridicules Dean".
Looks like it is going to get nasty, and soon. Can you imagine the audacity of our "Jeb!" criticizing the qualifications of Dean, when he deigned to run for the highest position in the state having a record of zero accomplishment. After all, "Jeb!" is nothing more than a failed water pump salesman who was thereafter propped up by friends of his daddy in a phoney job as a "developer". See also "GOP goes grass roots to gain votes".
WHAT A JOKE -These are the precise recommendations from 1989, when the Florida Chamber Foundation unveiled its first Cornerstone report on Florida's economy and how it should change to compete in the 1990s. As in the 20th century. "Florida's vision looks sadly familiar".
HOOD HELD BACK . . . AGAIN -A plan to put growth management under Secretary of State Glenda Hood's control has been put on hold again, and a top environmentalist predicted it might not happen at all. "Expansion of Hood's role postponed again".
MORE DETAIL ON THE EDISON BAILOUT -
The $93 billion state retirement fund for Florida government employees, including public school teachers, is on the verge of becoming the principal owner of a financially failing school-management company that makes its money by supplying private services to operate poorly performing public schools. . . . The agreed-upon price tag is higher than the $1.40-per-share minimum sought by Edison when it began looking for a buyer in May but is considered by Liberty, in its report to the state, to be a fair purchase price "for a company with high growth prospects in a huge market."
Edison, the largest for-profit manager of public schools in the nation, has watched its stock value drop from a high of $36.75 a share in 2001 to below $1 last year. The company was warned by Nasdaq officials that if its stock price failed to climb above $1, it would no longer be listed on the exchange.
At least 17 school districts cancelled contracts with the company last year and a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation revealed that the company had been misreporting its revenues, reporting a rosier picture to investors than was warranted.
As part of the stock deal, Whittle will receive a $900,000 lump-sum payment, according to the company's proxy statement, and a $600,000 annual salary. Florida pension fund managers, however, say the deal, while risky, is appropriate." "Schools firm buyout derided as bailout".
GOP MONEY PILES UP, BUT WHO IS GIVING IT? One day after Gov. Jeb Bush called on state lawmakers to reveal all big money donations to fundraising groups they control, two Republican House members refused. Rep. Donna Clarke of Sarasota and Rep. Stan Mayfield of Vero Beach said they won't disclose the names and occupations of donors despite criticism from the top Republican officeholder in the state. "2 lawmakers decline to disclose".