| TRANSFORMING
POLITICS
Complacency was just as much the campaign
opponent of Jeb Bush and Frank Brogan as was Buddy MacKay.
In 1994, after losing the closest gubernatorial election in Florida
history, there existed in some quarters a sense of inevitability about the future
inauguration of Jeb Bush. As the fall of 1998 closed in, the feeling grew as every
advantage seemed to accrue to the favorite son of the state GOP. A cohesive and talented
staff, a stuffed campaign coffer, a unified and energized party, a 12-point lead in the
polls two months before the election--the race was his to lose. But win he did, by a
10-point margin.
The glitter of money and the supposedly unfair advantage of a
famous name attracted the censure of journalists like June bugs that zap themselves
against the porch light. But dollars and lineage didn’t give Jeb Bush the edge. It
was the hard work of running a campaign of density and depth.
|
 |
Cover Story
by jacquelyn horkan, editor
TRANSFORMING POLITICS
Complacency was just as much the campaign opponent of Jeb Bush and Frank Brogan
as was Buddy MacKay.
In 1994, after losing the closest gubernatorial election in Florida history, there
existed in some quarters a sense of inevitability about the future inauguration of Jeb
Bush. As the fall of 1998 closed in, the feeling grew as every advantage seemed to accrue
to the favorite son of the state GOP. A cohesive and talented staff, a stuffed campaign
coffer, a unified and energized party, a 12-point lead in the polls two months before the
election--the race was his to lose. But win he did, by a 10-point margin.
The glitter of money and the supposedly unfair advantage of a famous name attracted the
censure of journalists like June bugs that zap themselves against the porch light. But
dollars and lineage didn’t give Jeb Bush the edge. It was the hard work of running a
campaign of density and depth.
If anything, the Bush/Brogan campaign, for all its money, seemed a throwback to the old
shaking-hands-kissing-babies days of campaigning. The two candidates were everywhere--from
small-town political barbecues to the places providing outreach and services to the
once-proud men of the military who now wander the streets homeless.
Bush and Brogan played a new style of identity politics, replacing the old mode of
fomenting antagonism with one that sought concord among those of differing ethnic and
interest affiliations. And it worked. They drew the endorsements of Agriculture
Commissioner Bob Crawford, a conservative Democrat from the center of the state, as well
as that of T. Willard Fair, head of the Urban League in Miami. Jim Towey, advocate for the
elderly, and Rabbi Bruce Warshal, publisher of the liberal weekly Jewish Journal,
gave their support to the GOP ticket.
The MacKay/Dantzler campaign tried to resurrect the 1994 image of Bush as an uncaring,
penny-pinching right-winger. The ploy failed, in large part because of four years of
yeoman’s work by the Foundation for Florida’s Future. Bush established the
private think tank shortly after his loss to Gov. Lawton Chiles. Peopled by key staff from
the 1994 campaign, the foundation was often derided as a shell for Bush’s next run at
the office. During 1998, the anonymity of generous foundation donors became fodder for his
opponents.
But the real muscle of the foundation was not money, just as the election of Bush was
not its best achievement. If nothing else, it thrust conservative ideas into the
mainstream, and politics is just as much about ideas as it is about power.
Yes, the Foundation for Florida’s Future kept Bush’s name on the public
radar, gave him an opportunity to shape legislation, and maintained his network of
financial backers. It also yielded intangible benefits, infusing the Bush/Brogan campaign
with creative energy. It also let Bush spend four years acquainting himself with people
around the state.
Courting black, Jewish, and elderly voters did more than force MacKay and Dantzler to
devote time shoring up their core constituencies. It allowed Bush and Brogan to delve into
the common ground they shared with the traditional opponents of the Republican Party. As a
result, Bush successfully blended his principles with their shared aspirations and dreams.
In the end, the Bush/Brogan campaign dissolved stereotypes.
Campaigns are won on the ground, not at the bank or in the pages of Who’s Who.
They cost a lot of money, but making fund-raising easier takes candidates out of the
handsome mansions of their well-to-do backers and puts them before the regular people who
cast most of the votes.
Jeb Bush and Frank Brogan showed voters what they should expect from those who seek
their favor, even as the new governor and lieutenant governor wrote a new maxim for future
campaigners: The earthy clash of power politics does mix well with the inspiriting luster
of idea politics.
Nov/Dec 1998 -- Florida Business Insight, PO Box 784, Tallahassee, Fl 32302
(850)224-7173, insight@aif.com
