TAMPA - If name-dropping determined who won Tuesday's debate between the Republican candidates for governor, Tom Gallagher and Charlie Crist battled to a draw.It sounds more like a race to find out which Republican will take Florida back to 19th century the fastest.
Gallagher put Crist in the same "liberal" camp as Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who signed a law permitting same-sex civil unions when he was governor of Vermont.
Crist tossed out names, too, those of popular Republican politicians. He said he believes in keeping taxes low, like former Florida Sen. Connie Mack and former President Ronald Reagan. He referred to current Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, "my friend who's with us tonight . . . who has endorsed me along with [Arizona] Sen. John McCain."
Crist, who also called himself a "compassionate conservative," even quoted President Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address, saying he bore "malice toward none, with charity for all."
In a race defined by carrying on Gov. Jeb Bush's legacy, the two Republicans sought to define themselves and each other in their first matchup broadcast statewide on public television stations.
But showing composure while flinging barbs wins debates, not dropping names, and on those counts, Crist came out ahead. The state attorney general remained unflappable and good-humored, and in a dramatic flourish waved a copy of a state ethics commission opinion criticizing Gallagher.
Gallagher, the state's chief financial officer, fumbled his opening attack, stammering as he warned voters that Crist would lead Florida down a "liberal risky path." He seemed frustrated by what he called Crist's "bumper sticker" answers.
But he stuck to his strategy of pounding Crist for his more moderate stances on abortion, gay civil unions and stem-cell research.
"This race is between three liberals and one conservative, between three lawyers and a businessman," Gallagher said, lumping Crist with the Democratic candidates for governor, U.S. Rep. Jim Davis and state Sen. Rod Smith. "Floridians stand to lose their conservative voice in this election."
It also sounds like neither of these candidates are aware of the fact that there is more to the state of Florida than the panhandle, and that the majority of the population lives south of Orlando...and we vote, too. Railing against stem cell research in a state where a lot of the population is more than mildly interested in health care is not a good idea, and coming across as a gay-bashing bigot doesn't play well in places like Wilton Manors or Miami Beach. And running on the coattails of Jeb Bush, whose biggest claim to fame is that he's not as big a screw-up as his older brother, seems like grasping at straws.
The Democrats -- Jim Davis and Rod Smith -- debate tonight, and for many Floridians it will be their first chance to hear them.
