06/12/2002 Archived Entry: "Reno-vs-McBride vs Bush, Florida schools"
New Florida poll out by Mason-Dixon:
MIAMI -- A statewide poll of more than 600 likely voters shows Gov. Jeb Bush holding a 22 percent lead over likely Democratic nominee Janet Reno, 57 percent to 35 percent and 8 percent were undecided.
..... That means, after logging thousands of campaign miles during the last several months, Reno has not been able to close the gap. In January, polls indicated her trailing Bush by 22 points.... She holds a 53 percent to 25 percent lead over Tampa attorney Bill McBride among 400 Democratic voters around the state. The results show she holds a commanding lead, but since the January survey, Reno's numbers are off some, while McBride's doubled his support among Democrats. His backers hope that trend accelerates.
"There's still plenty of time between now and September to pick up the support you need," Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez said. Martinez, one of only a few South Florida politicians to support McBride, said with a planned summer ad campaign and the chance to debate Reno, McBride could pull off an upset. And he said Reno's numbers against Bush could foretell Democratic disaster in November. "If she were looking for the good of the party and the state, she should reassess her campaign," Martinez said.
Reno's main problem is 36 percent of voters we surveyed have a negative opinion of her, McBride stirs negative reaction from just 7 percent of voters, and the governor's negative opinion continues in the mid-20s.
And she will reassess her campaign, when she sees the writing on the wall in a couple of months, as McBride pulls ahead of her in polling.
A major ballot initiative looks set to occur in Florida this year, a proposal to cap the size of public school classes:
If approved, the initiative would require the state to cap class sizes by the year 2010 at 18 students in pre-kindergarten through third grade, 22 in grades 4 through 8, and 25 in high school. Legislative and Department of Education estimates for the cost of hiring teachers and building classrooms in order to cap class sizes based on the proposal have ranged from $2 billion to $12 billion. Worried about the effect on state coffers -- and, Democrats charged, on his reelection campaign -- Bush last month pushed through a law that requires proposed ballot initiatives to carry pricetags.
Bush is positioning himself to be against it, but obviously, that move would be dicey for him. Given the large elderly community, and a potential fear element that the opponents could entice for other services to be cut, it's not a shoe-in for approval, but that's assuming that some politician, like Bush, dares to oppose the measure.
Replies: 5 comments
Everything should have a price tag attached to it. Would the Eyman initiative to roll back taxes in Washington State passed had the people been informed that there would be cut in services? I do not know. But, the people can make rational choices if all information is provided. Nothing comes for free.
Posted by G.C. Raj @ 06/12/2002 02:41 PM PST
There are price-tags on the Oregon initiatives. It hasn't had any effect to my knowledge. This one is likely to have quite a price tag.
Posted by myDD @ 06/12/2002 05:49 PM PST
I think that Reno needs to step out gracefully in this race. I like her and her positions. I live in Florida now and I know that Jeb is vulnerable to the right opponent and that is likely Bill McBride.
Posted by Ced @ 06/13/2002 06:08 AM PST
But, correct if I am wrong...Did not Oregon voters reject a tax roll back initiative a few years ago?
Posted by G.C. Raj @ 06/13/2002 06:34 AM PST
Sizemore has put a lot of tax roll back ininiatives on the ballot in OR. I don't recall the exact bills, but it seemed like the first couple passed, but since then, they've been rejected.
Posted by myDD @ 06/13/2002 07:43 AM PST
