Tampa Trib Endorses all-GOP Cabinet

Tom Lee beat out the other homegrown candidate, Alex Sink, to win the Tampa Tribune's endorsement Friday in the CFO race, though the paper acknowledged it had a tough decision: "Both are well-qualified, both have bipartisan appeal and it's a shame one of them has to lose." But the paper said Lee's experience navigating Tallahassee politics made him the stronger candidate.

The paper also endorsed Bill McCollum for Attorney General and Charles Bronson for re-election as Agriculture Commissioner.

Comments

I am sure the Times won't make the same mistake . . .

The tampa tribune is more moderate paper, mostly independent. Decent analysis, but it may look bad that they picked all republicans, just as bad as all the liberal papers that pick all democrats.

The SP times is a new york times type stronghold for the liberal movement.
It would be huge news if the SP times picked any republicans. But i suspect they will pick the liberals, and suprise no one.

My guess is the Times endorses Davis, Sink, Campbell and Bronson, thereby lending some credibility to their endorsements, by including a Republican.

I agree with 10:12 am. They are predictable.

The better credibility would be endorsing Crist with 3 democrats, he is most qualified for the position he is seeking more than the others.

10:16 are you SERIOUS??? please, c'mon

Awesome........ the Tribune got it right. The article was really well written and does not say Sink is not good but that Tom Lee is the Better one for the job in many ways, which is the truth.

I thought one of the best articles written showing the differences between the candidates, by not putting Sink down but by clearly showing the strengths of having Tom Lee in office and that he has the backbone to stand up for the people even against Jeb if need be which to me says a whole lot about Tom .

I voted for Will McBride in the primary and I will be voitng for his wife, Alex Sink.

Will McBride lost to Jeb in the last governor election and should have run.

That's Bill McBride, genius.

The dilema the Trib faces is whether to endorse Harris. They could take the chicken's way out and not endorse anyone. They could "Herald Tribune" the race just like the HT did during the primary.

I can't wait to read the editorial. Nelson represents everything they detest, yet Harris is the joke of the nation.

Will McBride is married to Alex Sink. That is what the paper says. I voted for Will McBride because he changed to the Republican Party. Alex evidently stayed a Democrat, but she has better qualifications than Lee as a Bank Chairman

Bill McBride ran for governor against Jeb in 2002. Will McBride ran against Katherine Harris in the senate primary this year. They are two different people. Bill is married to Alex.

[Matt Behnke]

I think someone is confused here.... lololol Will McBride is a hispanic guy, he's not a white guy. He ran for US Senate in the primary against Katherine Harris he was NOT the democratic nominee for Governor in 2002.

uh duh ... Tribune is THE CONSERVATIVE paper ... duh

Hey what about Dist 16? Anyone catch that phenomenal editorial is YESTERDAY'S paper? Didn't see it here where the cool kids share the news ... Go Charlie Go!

Justice League fighting for Floridians! I trust Charlie Justice to fight for MY issues.

Berfield's bizarre ads

If there is a pawn of insurers in this state Senate race, it isn't Justice.

A Times Editorial Published October 12, 2006

Before the race even officially began, voters in a state Senate district that spans Tampa Bay were given the goods on Charlie Justice. Justice, a 38-year-old three-term House member and University of South Florida academic adviser, found himself with this label: "Wrong for children. Wrong for families. Wrong for us."
The Republican mailer lacked explanation, of course, and its message presumably came as a surprise to Justice's wife and two young daughters. But be forewarned, District 16 voters. This is only the beginning of a ground and air assault that may employ weapons of mass distortion.
Justice's opponent, 35-year-old advertising consultant and three-term House member Kim Berfield, has had plenty of practice. In a nasty Republican primary with Frank Farkas, she and Farkas did everything but throw spitwads. Farkas tried to tar her as a Scientologist, which she is not, and pictured her wearing a beauty queen's sash labeled: "Ms. Insurance Industry Friend of the Year." Berfield superimposed Farkas' face on a dog, as in lapdog, and portrayed him as reaching into a cookie jar: "As a boy, 'lil Frankie Farkas developed a bad habit."
Now the stakes are raised, and both parties think they have a shot at winning this seat. That means big money, maybe as much as $7-million, could be poured into this matchup. Unfortunately, that also means voters are likely to be treated to many more sophomoric stunts that have no relationship to reality.
The claim that Justice is "wrong for children" is so witless as to be comical, but a new commercial casting Justice as a tool of the insurance industry suffers from a bizarre identity crisis.
In the primary, Farkas may have exaggerated Berfield's close relationship with the insurance industry. And Democrats already have wrongly attributed the source of a description of her as the "darling of the insurance industry." But Berfield is in fact chairwoman of a House insurance committee that has failed miserably to bring homeowners' insurance rates under control. She in fact was named representative of the year in 2004 by the Florida Insurance Council. She in fact, as of last month, had received $73,000 in campaign contributions from the insurance industry - 15 times as much as Justice.
If there is a pawn of the insurance industry in this race, Charlie Justice is not it. Maybe Berfield thinks the best defense is a good offense, but these attacks are simply out of bounds.

[politicalspectator]

Let's vote for anyone named McBride! Drinks all around!

We all voted for McBride because we thought he had changed parties. I will still vote for Alex Sink because I think Will McBride would have been good as governor. I can't believe he did not beat Harris, but switching parties probably hurt him.

[politicalspectator]

Psssssst...Uh, 11:24, you know, Will McBride the Republican candidate for senator has nothing to do with Alex Sink, running for CFO. Sink's husband is Bill McBride, a Democrat, who ran for governor in 2002. Everyone has been telling you that, but carry on if you like. Actually, it's pretty funny.

[neelyohara]

SSSSh! Let him keep going. It's funny.

Tell us more about the great interchangeable McBrides...

More like annoying.

I am confused. McBride ran for governor and lost to Jeb. He then switched parties (must have seen the light). Then he ran for senate and lost to Harris because he was too liberal on immigration. His wife, Alex Sink is running for CFO and is getting a lot of endorsements. I am voting for McBride's wife Alex because with a Republican husband, he will keep her honest.

Are you saying that there are two Will McBrides???

I don't care who Alex Sink is married to - I'm voting for Tom Lee. This is a great endorsement and really underlines the reason that Tom is the better candidate. GO TOM!!!!!!!!!!!

Lee had a chance to fix the insurance problem and failed. Time now to let someone else give it a try. Sink brings no baggage and no leftover legislative favor boligations. She is entirely clean, smart and ready to go. Lee is a nice man, but is better as a legislator. He should run for Congress. He would have been a better canddiate tan Bilirakis.

Does Lee's company, Sabal Homes, hire contractors who employ illegal aliens?

What is going to happen to this blog after the election? Will there be enough news to keep up the action? Tell you the truth, after the primaries, the blog seems pretty lame now. I think it is probably because everyone has pretty much concluded the GOP takes all the marbles again on the statewide positions. But if it is this quiet now, it might get really dead after Election Day.

Most of Tom Lee's staff, lobbyist friends, and contributors are nothing but a bunch of leftover Tom Gallagher wanna-bees who's last shot at a little bit of glory is that he gets elected... Look at his contribution list - it is straight from the Insurance Industry Yellow Pages.

I've met Tom Lee, and the only explanation for the vehemence in some of these postings is that they are part of the lobbyist corps that he slammed with his ethics bill. His personality just doesn't raise that level of antagonism. An ex-wife could still feel that much anger perhaps, but ...

Crist, Lee, McCollum, Bronson. That works for me. Give me that absentee ballot.

Crist, Sink, Campbell and Bronson.

Competency and will to succeed wihtout regard for party affiliation

Tom Lee is a class act and he will be our next chief financial officer.

Tom Lee is a class act, but does not possess the intellectual gravitas to be CFO. He should run for a political position such as governor and he'll have my vote. For CFO, no.

I read this on the blog posts and I researched the info myself. Alex Sink is on the board of the very financial institutions that she will oversee. I will not vote for her, and neither are many of my friends.

That is the most illogical comment by 2:28. First, she will resign. Second she has to disclose. Third, she has to recuse. Based on what you wrote, I guess you will have few to vote for. You can't vote for McCollum, because he is a lobbyist. You can't vote for Lee because his new home building business will benefit from windstorm reform. That leaves only professional politicians, the last people you should vote for.

10:56 Bill is married to Alex!? I'm against gay marriage I'm voting for Tom Lee

where is the reference to Alex Sink promising to resign from all of those boards she serves on? can one of the Sink staff post that on the blog?

2:23

I am sure he will run for governor one day so hold onto that vote.

That's the Trib for you. The question is, will they go as far and endorse Harris?

The Trib did good. Go Tom Lee!!! Alex Sink may have the financial background, but she doesn't have the public policy or political experience. That doesn't make her a bad person, it just means that she is not really qualified to handle the complexities of a Cabinet Position. Anyone who understands the office and the Cabinet can agree.

2:38--WTH does being against gay marriage have to do with being in charge of the state's accounting? I don't get your logic.

[Chris W]

The Tribune misses the mark, as usual. The reason for the CFO position to exist at all is to make sure Florida's money is professionally managed. I can't imagine Tom Lee being as tough on government privateers as Alex Sink promises to be (and has the steel in her spine to be).