Tallahassee Democrat endorses Jim Davis

[Orangepeel]

Jim Davis
A strong choice for Democrats

Jim Davis, with his Jimmy Stewart decency and low-boiling-point earnestness, would give Florida Democrats a candidate for governor who can match up the Everyday Citizen's concerns with solutions that resonate in our state's high-stakes political climate.

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But don't mistake Mr. Davis' respectful, serious-minded approach to politics with dispassionate wonkishness.

"I don't get angry very easily, except when people don't tell the truth," he said. "I don't like what I see here, and that's why I came back to run for governor."

Mr. Davis honed his leadership skills beginning in 1988, when he was elected to the Legislature from Tampa. He quickly rose to become Democratic majority leader, the person who not only makes the trains run on time but also must mix tenacity and diplomacy to address issues important to all citizens.

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Seeing the insurance crisis as the topic that "unites us as a state," Mr. Davis said he can get a Republican-ruled Legislature to get tougher on the insurance industry because the current "permissive atmosphere . . . is bad for consumers and bad for business."

Likewise his goal of getting Floridians to think again of higher education as "a business model for our state" has extra meaning in our university community, but it's important for all Floridians who have seen our state go "from being a low-wage, low-cost state to a low-wage, high-cost state," with too large a proportion of service-industry work.

Mr. Davis vows to help lift wages by lifting educational opportunities, which includes restoring One Florida "so that college admissions officers have the ability to include diversity. . . . I believe diversity is something we embrace, not just manage."

In addition, his Washington experience would serve the governor of the nation's fourth-largest state well.

Mr. Davis is running against state Sen. Rod Smith, a former Alachua County prosecutor who knows his way around the Legislature. But, as Mr. Davis said in broader context, "this is not a year when people want to stay the course in Tallahassee." While campaigning, he has seen firsthand how "people are feeling very, very squeezed."

Coming in fresh to the challenge of restoring a sense of trust and his long history of collegial leadership are important advantages for Mr. Davis, and are his primary assets. Democrats would do well to give him their support.


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[iamjoy]

1. A Nice Endorsement

You know I'm supporting Rod, but I like this endorsement of Davis because it is not negative, it does not distort. It gives some compelling reasons why Davis would make a good governor. I think a lot of these other papers endorsing Davis now are going to turn and endorse Crist in the general election, but not this paper.