Did anyone watch the Governor debate tonight??

[RockaFowler]

They both looked nervous, but I think Davis did a good job. I'll say this much, they looked better than last nights Repub slap down. Those guys hate each other.

[ramses10]

1. Smith left a lot to be desired...

I think Smith has a problem now that it has been revealed that his campaign is literally 50% financed by US Sugar Corporation <$1,000,000+>.

Moreover, instead of condemning the false ad that the Sugar 527 is running against Davis, he claimed that it was accurate and raised valid issues. However, the ad says Davis voted against a bill to increase the minimum wage that he in fact voted for. Smith's argument is that, although Davis voted for the min. wage increase, he voted against a motion to send the entire bill to committee for an unlimited amount of time to review the exemption for funeral directors currently in the bill. That motion was sponsored by a Republican and OBVIOUSLY was intended to "shelve" the bill since as soon as it was referred to committee to discuss the funeral directors, the R leadership could hold it indefinitely. Now - if Senator Smith was stupid, this attack might be tolerable. But he knows very well that Jim's vote in fact was geared towards saving the bill aimed at increasing the minimum wage. To take the fact that Jim would not kill the entire bill just to re-evaluate the portion concerning funeral directors and say Jim opposes raising the minimum wage is a BLATANT LIE.

Also, Smith said he would support a reasonable limit on assault weapons which is counter to statements he's made in the past. Rod has stated repeatedly he opposes all forms of gun control including background checks, licensing, waiting periods and assault weapon restrictions . That is fine, but he should at least be straight forward about that.

[watercolors]

2. Yes, Davis gets my vote!

Smith is a "good ole boy" politician! Would not trust him at all! I feel he has hand in alot of pockets.

[Bamboo]

3. If you believe an opposite of a negative then I am not your candidate.

The two sounded nervous on the radio and afterward people called in to ask what they were talking about.The host was in full green apple quickstep trying to explain what happened.I listen to debates and speeches on the radio because the makeup gets in the way of the message.

The questions were Russertesque thought experiments from high school and had little to do with daily life around the kitchen table.The democrats have enemies in the republican party and should realize they have enemies in the media.Setting off the mudslinging improves ratings and revenue and they were happy to comply.

Their opening and closing comments sounded like Johnny Carson's Floyd R. Turbo reading from a script.I would like to see a Simon Cowell type moderate debates and tell the canidates how bad they perform.

[Orangepeel]

4. The Reviews Are In: Davis Scores Victory in Televised Debate

(email from the Davis campaign)

Journalists, Observers Note Davis’s Strong Performance in Statewide Debate

TAMPA – In this morning’s editions, newspapers across Florida reported that Davis beat expectations and effectively drove home his commitment to being on the side of Florida’s families during last night’s first statewide televised debate between the two Democratic candidates for governor. Listed below is just a sampling of the good reviews of Davis’s debate performance:

Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel: “Winner: Davis, Pretty Clearly”

“Davis kept throwing punches, and Smith kept getting hit… Good lines: Davis had most of 'em. Winner: Davis, pretty clearly….Davis made a better case that, when Smith did show up, it was the special interests who won.”

Daytona Beach News-Journal: “Davis Appeared Smoother and Better Prepared”

“Davis appeared smoother and better prepared. And more of his barbs found their mark. He spoke fluently of what he would do to help everyday Floridians, from turning FCAT into a diagnostic test to lowering phone rates to vetoing tax breaks for investors…. After Wednesday night, he could be the candidate of a lot more voters.”

AP: “Aubrey Jewett…said Davis Did a Better Job”

“Aubrey Jewett, a University of Central Florida political science professor, said Davis did a better job during the debate at focussing on issues that truly concern Democratic voters, such as the environment and consumer policies.”


Susan McManus: “Davis Did Better Than People Expected”

University of South Florida professor Susan MacManus said, “I think Davis did better than people expected.”


Miami Herald: “Davis Started Off Stronger, Looking More Relaxed”

“Davis started off stronger, looking more relaxed and keeping a smile on his face…. Davis continued his strategy of hammering away at the problems facing state government -- most notably soaring insurance rates -- and accusing Smith of being part of the problem.”


Palm Beach Post: “Davis Scored Only Studio-Crowd Reaction of the Night”

“Davis scored the only studio-crowd reaction of the night when he questioned Smith about his support for a law that, Davis said, helped raised phone bills to ‘a record level’.”

Howard Troxler, St. Petersburg Times: “Davis Seemed To Be the Agressor”

“Holy cow! Who knew that Jim Davis could throw a punch?.... Davis seemed to be the aggressor against Smith.”

Tampa Tribune: “Davis Was The Aggressor Early”

“Davis was the aggressor early, challenging support for Smith's campaign from a political committee largely financed by the U.S. Sugar Corp. He blamed U.S. Sugar for a 2003 bill Smith supported that Davis says weakened Everglades cleanup efforts.”

[madville]

5. I watched the debate

I watched the debate and I think I will be going with Davis. His delivery is kind of bland and stiff but hopefully that is just nervousness and will fade away as he gets more comfortable. After watching the Republican debate Crist probably has it sewn up, Gallagher just seems like a nasty person and this is the fifth time he has run for Governor or something like that, plus some of his people have already quit and are helping Crist now. Crist is going to be a challenge in the general election playing the moderate, said he has no problem with civil unions for homosexuals and said that he was against the government regulating abortion even though he was "personally pro-life". :eyes:

Has anybody seen any recent polls matching up all the candidates from both sides ?

[infogirl]

6. Sayfie Review polled and Smith won!!!

http://www.sayfiereview.com/

Check out the link! They did an online vote last night!

I belive Smith won...he owes sugar nothing! Rod Smith is chair of Ag...and we need to grow more food here in Fla, as gas prices rise to bring our food here...and we need to develop alternate fuels. We can balance Ag...and the magistrate report came in and said sugar cleaned up 68-72 percent...they were asked to come in at 25%. So it is working and Rod Smith also wrote the polluter pays law...

me think sugar is trying to ruin both candidates to help bush..put crist in.

Rod has an open effective record...and besides who doesn't like sugar? We voted to keep sugar a part of Fla's economy. Sugar is no longer the enemy as they are working cleaner..and maybe the other guy is just upset he is not getting any money?
:shrug:

[Orangepeel]

9. With friends like Big Sugar, who needs enemies?

(is Big Sugar not bad anymore or are they trying to ruin both candidates? I got a little bit confused during your post).

Anyway, self-selected online polls nothwithstanding, Big Sugar is (still) no friend to consumers or to the environment.

From http://www.evergladestrust.org/bigsugar.shtml :

Big Sugar is a collective term for the major sugar farming contenders in the Everglades Agricultural Area including large operations such as US Sugar Corp, Flo Sun, and Florida Crystals. Notorious for their environmentally un-friendly procedures, Big Sugar has become the major polluter of the Everglades region. Sugar farming and refining produces chemical refuse that is dumped into water sources making water unsafe for drinking and affecting the plant and animal life. Their strong lobbying efforts allow them to do this without having to pay for all of cleaning and purification. In fact, they leave the majority of that to the tax payers.

Adding insult to injury, the Federal Sugar Price Support Program, authorized in 1981 under the U.S. Farm Bill, does very little to stop the Florida sugar industry from polluting the Everglades. It does, however, squander tax dollars and authorizes a price-fixing scheme that is destroying America’s Everglades. The following facts about the Sugar Price Support Program are alarming and illustrate the “special treatment” that has been extended to Big Sugar.

Allocates 70% of the federal subsidies to the Sugar Industry although it only makes up less than 1% of the total U.S. crops.

Controls the price of sugar (currently three times the world price) through quotas.
Guarantees profits for the Florida sugar industry.

Costs consumers $2 Billion* a year in higher food prices.
(Source: U.S. Government Accounting Office Report)

Costs consumers and taxpayers $2,805,800,000* annually.

Causes inefficiency and overproduction

Costs taxpayers $459 Million* for loan default-buy back program (rich sugar corporations borrow federal money to grow sugar cane and then default on their loans, forcing the federal government to buy the over-produced sugar)

Costs taxpayers $16.8 Million* for storage of overproduced sugar

Costs taxpayers $388.1+ Million* to Florida sugar companies in annual benefits and subsidies from state and federal governments

When the Sugar Program was instituted in 1981 there were 23 sugarcane refineries in the U.S. – today there are 8, and employment in sugar refineries since 1981 has dropped 57%.

As many as 26,500 food and beverage manufacturing jobs (such as U.S. candy plants closing) have been moved overseas since 1997 due to our elected officials' protection of the Sugar Program.

The Sugar Program made the Florida sugar barons some of the richest and largest corporate welfare receivers in the world allowing them to give millions of dollars in campaign contributions to politicians to ensure the Program's continuation.

In 2002 under the Bush administration the Sugar Program was increased by as much as $5 Billion for the next five years.

The Sugar Program is responsible for the destruction of as much as 9 acres of America's Everglades every day.

[madville]

10. gotta figure

You have to figure that only about 1% of the people in Florida even watched the debate and that's being generous. I called my grandmother and told her to watch the debate. She told me before the debate that she was thinking about Davis because Bob Graham was endorsing him on TV but after the debate she had switched to Smith because he made a better impression on her.

Still a toss up at this point though I think because neither really has any name recognition. I am not overly impressed by either, I was leaning towards Davis though, both are gonna have their hands full with Crist.

[infogirl]

7. Rod Smith also polls better in the north...

Jim Davis will never beat Crist. N. Fla has been polled...if it is Davis..the Dixie Dems, who keep voting republican will vote for Crist. That is why and where we always lose. They will vote for Rod up there..but not Jim Davis...

We must have a dem governor to win the white house....why can't we work smart?

[infogirl]

8. Jim did not answer three questions..he skirted them

especially the cuban wet foot dry foot..he did not answer...

he just spoke of "vision" not enough solution. and i heard from insurance adjusters..Jim's windstorm plan will raise rates indeed...

[ramses10]

11. Not true...

You are mistaken about the polls actually. All the polls do show Crist winning North Florida decisively, but Davis is substantially closer than Smith.

However, the truth is that North Florida is not the reason Democrats are losing elections. North Florida always votes Republican and South Florida always votes Democrat. Thus elections are simply decided in the I-4 corridor. Now, both Crist and Davis are from Tampa which is the biggest population center within the I-4 corridor. Davis has been re-elected to congress four times from Tampa with 85% of the vote the last time. If Davis could even TIE with Crist in Tampa, he'd win the election in a landstorm because Tampa + South Florida = 85%+ of the voting population. Conversely, if Smith (who is polling at less than 10% in Tampa) managed to win North Florida and South Florida - he'd still lose by massive margins because of Crist's hometown advantage and name recognition in Tampa.

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams just did an expose on the insurance issue that Jim has been talking about. They said there are over 50,000 home owners in hurricane affected areas who have not been paid a dime because their flood and wind insurers have said that the source of the damage "can not be determined". For the past 100 years, Florida had a system that compelled at least one of the insurerers to pay. However, Rod led an effort to repeal that law and he is defending that decision. Jim's plan is simply a return to the way things were for 100+ years. Even if it does raise rates (and I haven't seen any proof it would) - it is better than paying for homeowners insurance and then not receiving any money when your home is destroyed.

There is a document called "Florida's Promise" on the www.jimdavis2006.com site - I encourage you to read it. It is a 14+ page document outlining Jim's specific plans for Florida. Conversely, Rod just put up his issues page maybe three months ago.

[Orangepeel]

12. welcome to DU, ramses!

:hi:, :thumbsup: and :applause:

Honestly, I think it will be hard for either of them to beat Crist. But Davis has a much better chance and, IMO, will make the best governor.

[SteppingRazor]

13. Yeah, but the wet foot/dry foot was a stupid question...

that's a federal policy, not a state one, so there's nothing the governor can do about it. I was embarrassed Elise Cramer even asked.