But hide own plans
We have an "interesting" gubernatorial contest going on in the Sunshine State.
Neither candidate - incumbent Rick Scott and former governor Charlie Crist - is telling potential voters what he will do for the state; what plans he has to make Florida an even better place to call home.
Both men are campaigning against each other.
Crist, a Republican-turned-Democrat, is attacked for his close relationship with convicted Ponzi-schemer Scott Rothstein.
Incumbent Scott is attacked by Crist for being less than forthcoming in an investigation into Scott's health care business, a business he sold some time ago.
But neither one is tells us what he will - or won't - do if elected.
The first tv attack ad seemed to originate with Scott's campaign, although he denied any hand in the effort saying his promoters created the ad on their own.
Mind he did not order the advertisement pulled. In my Edward Bear mind that tells me he approves of the ad - and causes me to look with suspicion on the governor.
Crist countered with an ad of his own - his or his campaign team; like Scott, there has been no disclaimer and order to shut down the ad.
AS A GENERAL RULE, Republican governors are one-term governors; they seem, as a group, to fail the state. I cannot remember ANY GOP governor who won a second term. Scott seems to have done better than most. Crist, when he first ran for governor, was a Republican; then he was an independent, and finally a Democrat. Does the "Republican curse" still attach to him in spite of his opportunistic dance with the Democrats?
Both candidates are pulling their attacks from the newspapers; around here, that's the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, the Miami Herald, and the Palm Beach Post.
It is amusing to see quotes culled from the same newspapers used to attack both candidates.
Does this mean - and I'm ready to believe it - that NEITHER candidate is worthy to be Florida's CEO?
Florida has ten (10) men and women who have qualified to stand for the state's top political office. Of the 10, only two are running strong statewide campaigns: Scott and Crist.
The other eight might be excellent candidates; then again, they might not. But since they apparently lack funds to tell Florida voters what they will do if elected, Floridians effectively are "stuck" with Scott and Crist.
I don't like smear campaigns; I don't like attack ads.
Is it too much to ask of a candidate to tell me what he, or she, will do if elected? Promise me things that might be achievable. Answer reporters questions truthfully - yes, I am suggesting that some candidates at all levels are cavalier with the truth.
Today, Wednesday, September 17, 2014, it looks like a tight race for the governor's digs in Tallahassee. The polls show the candidates within a few percentage points of each other, but then who knows who was polling and for which candidate, or what questions were asked and how the questions were phrased ("Do you still beat your spouse?"; "If I told you Candidate 'N' was a murderer, would you vote for that candidate?"). We also don't know who was asked and how many of those "who"s were asked. (Have you ever been polled?)
We're not quite down to Chicago's level of dirty politics, but with each campaign Florida seems to be sinking lower and lower. Probably we're not alone, but I wish it wasn't that way.
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