WP: Jeb Bush's Influence in Fla. Inspires Awe, Rage

[kskiska]

MIAMI, Oct. 29 -- President Bush, borrowing a bit of biblically styled phrasing, calls Florida's governor "Brother Jeb." The brothers -- Jeb, the younger one, and George W. -- have been everywhere in Florida together the past few months. They have handed out bottled water in hurricane-battered towns and roused crowds side-by-side at campaign rallies.

Jeb Bush's political powers, his eloquence and his gifts as a strategist are considered major assets to his brother's campaign, both by the governor's detractors and by his fans. One longtime Florida Democratic operative says he is "as smart as Karl Rove," the president's much-praised strategist. But it is Jeb Bush's influence over the electoral process in this crucial state that can inspire awe and rage.

This year, he has far more say over the way the presidential election in Florida will be conducted than he did in 2000. He has been smack in the middle of a gaggle of election controversies over the past year: from flawed voter lists and manual recount battles to tussles over electronic voting machines. This fact has made the governor the object of intense criticism from voter-advocacy groups, who have accused him of manipulating the process through Florida Secretary of State Glenda E. Hood, his appointee -- a charge that he has denied.

"He has a penchant for mythmaking about the state of the electoral process in Florida, rather than telling the truth," said Bobbie Brinegar, president of the Miami-Dade County League of Women Voters. "It's really important to eliminate the partisan administration of the electoral process in Florida."

But, as it turns out, the powers that Jeb Bush has over the electoral process are exactly what Florida asked for. Florida used to elect its secretaries of state -- Katherine Harris was the last of the elected secretaries. Harris was one of the central figures in the 2000 election tempest, using her authority to limit the time counties had to recount ballots and overseeing the initial decisions over the eligibility of voters before the election. In 1998, when Jeb Bush won his first term as governor, the state also approved a raft of constitutional amendments, including one that changed the job of secretary of state from an elected to an appointed position effective in 2003, giving the governor a huge role in the election process.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10544-2004Oct29.html

[ILeft]

1. Jeb and Karl Rove aren't really that smart- they're just amoral.

It's easy to fool people if you have absolutely no moral or ethical principles. These people are con men.

"Jeb Bush's political powers, his eloquence and his gifts as a strategist are considered major assets to his brother's campaign, both by the governor's detractors and by his fans. One longtime Florida Democratic operative says he is "as smart as Karl Rove," the president's much-praised strategist."

Give me a fucking break.

[Psephos]

4. The word you want is "immoral"

Actually, Rove and Jeb Bush *are* pretty smart. What's not smart is underestimating them; it makes you not work as hard to defeat them. I see this mistake made a lot. Just because the repuke political views are offensive/hypocritical/short-sighted/etc., does not mean the repukes who hold them are stupid. As Sun-Tzu taught, to defeat your opponent, you must first respect his strength. From what I can see, despite their many other failings, the repukes don't make this mistake quite as often as donks.

All politicians are con men; confidence is the coin of the realm. The more confidence constituents have in you (whether well- or ill-founded), the more political power you have. That's neither moral nor immoral, but amoral.

Time to KICK! this election into a higher gear...

[loudsue]

5. "It's easy to fool people if you have absolutely no moral or ethical princ

< oops! Let me try again! >

"It's easy to fool people if you have absolutely no moral or ethical principles."

That's called a sociopath. And unfortunately, every one of the bush family qualifies.


:kick::kick::kick:

[saigon68]

8. The Bush Criminals

Criminal sociopaths.

[Voltaire99]

2. Unfairness institutionalized.

...the state also approved a raft of constitutional amendments, including one that changed the job of secretary of state from an elected to an appointed position effective in 2003, giving the governor a huge role in the election process.

And that was a mistake that shall be rued for many years to come.

[JoFerret]

3. Whole evil family

are lizards

[Ima]

6. Hey JoFerret !

Don't you be dissing lizards.:spank:

[bushwakker]

7. smart isn't the word that comes to mind when i think of rove.

[susu369]

9. Puhleeze

Rove is brilliant,
*bu$h is godly,
and Jeb "devious plans" is a gifted strategist....

[Sinnerman]

10. Don't worry about Florida... Kerry is up at least 8-10 Points

[NicRic]

11. another reason bush must lose !

bush losing the election should be enough to put a stopper in any idea Jeb had of running in 2008 ! Kind of like the saying killing two birds with one stone ! Now what Iam talking about is the politicial end to what might otherwise turn out to be a 16 year control of the White house by the bush family ! Just the thought of that makes me ill. Bedides all the other very important and valid reasons why bush dont deserve to be elected ,this is also a very important reason !

[Child_Of_Isis]

12. The way I see it,

is we will have 8 years of Kerry, then Jeb, who will be twice as bad for our country as shrub. Shrub will most likely run his campaign, along with Rove if he is still alive. Then will come the major uprising...that is if we can get Kerry in. If shrub pulls out all stops and gets the presidency again, we'll just have the uprising sooner than later. Either way, it's going to happen. Be it this generation or the next. As long as a bush is alive, we are in danger.

[goforit]

13. Hope some one has a camera on the thug 24/7.