Janet Reno rallies Democrats, blasts Bush

[peanutbrittle]

Janet Reno rallies Democrats, blasts Bush

By Larry Hannan (Contact)

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Monday was a good night to be a Democrat in Collier County.

The Collier County Democratic Club launched its 2006 campaign kickoff celebration with a speech by former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno at the Naples Board of Realtors Conference Center, 1455 Pine Ridge Road. About 200 people attended the event.

Reno looked into the future and saw good times ahead for Democrats if they stick together and come up with a common-sense vision for the future.

"We must come together and show America what we're all about," Reno said.

Democrats must develop a plan for improving the education system in Florida. They must also create a better health-care system that allows people to buy prescription drugs at an affordable price.

"Let us deal with the health-care system in a way that makes sense," she said.

Reno also blasted President George W. Bush. She called the Iraq war unnecessary and lamented other Bush actions.

"This administration has undermined our civil liberties," Reno said. "That's why this (upcoming) election is so important."

more,,,

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2006/mar/21/janet_reno_rallies_democrats_blasts_bush/?local_news

[DoYouEverWonder]

1. If it wasn't for Jeb throwing the primary to McBride

with rigged voting machine, Reno would be my governor right now. So sad.

Good to see her out and raising a ruckus.

[JCMach1]

3. That is profoundly untrue... Reno ran one of the WORST campaigns

even by Florida standards.

It hardly matters anyway, because 2002 was a disaster year for Dems anyway. Whoever won that primary was going to be fodder for the Bushes.

I will give my own personal perspective. I volunteered for Reno's campaign very early-on and actually did some preliminary research and campaign planning for her on a regional level. I did this in hope of once things really got rolling that I could have a nice little role in her campaign. The phone never rang. They never asked me to help... nada, zilch. (Months pass by)

Having seen the <dis>organization, I began looking at some of the other candidates. Because of my union ties, I was contacted by McBride organization. I became a county coordinator. Ironically, McBride won my county overwhelmingly and the amount of the victory was almost exactly the total for the entire state. The McBride was well-organized through the primaries. That was the difference. It had little to do with JEBtm. For the General Election, I left to run my own campaign for the Legislature.

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. Reno would have carried Dade County

and would have won if people had been able to vote. McBride had no message and no experience. He has since disappeared.

[JCMach1]

5. He has since nearly died of a heart attack...

His wife (Alex Sink) is running for Florid's CFO. http://www.alexsinkforcfo.com/Index.shtml

She definitely has the 'right-stuff.' I could definitely see her as Florida's first woman governor in a few years. She is GREAT!

Reno would have won if she had run any kind of campaign. It was one of the worst I have EVER seen.

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. Oh no

I'm sorry to hear that he passed away. I had no idea.

Yes, you are right about his wife. She seemed much more on the ball.

[Orangepeel]

10. He hasn't disappeared. His wife is running for CFO

and he's campaigning for her.

Anyway, I hate that we have to rehash this shit every time Florida is mentioned, but, oh, well, here goes.

JCMach is right. Reno lost the primary by tens of thousands of votes (after every single vote she wanted recounted was recounted) because she was a terrible campaigner with an incompetent campaign staff. She spent most of the campaign in shopping malls talking to tourists (note: free publicity in the form of simply being shown on television doesn't get you much if everyone already knows and has an opinion of you).

McBride lost to Jeb for a lot of reasons -- he picked an extremely dull running mate, he tanked the last debate, etc. -- but not the least of these reasons was that after the primary, he hired a bunch of Reno's campaign staff in a conciliatory gesture!

In reality, Reno did better in South Florida in the primary than she was expected to do based on internal polling (at the expense of Jones, who did much more poorly in his home area than he did in the rest of the state). It is absolutely true that some votes were lost because some polls opened late (although they were also kept open late). But tens of thousands of votes were not lost and McBride did not try to block or stop any recount Reno wanted to do.

[JCMach1]

13. Hi OP... and yes I do still vote in Florida

I will always be a Floridian in my heart.

And no, not JEBtm's Florida...

[Orangepeel]

11. Hi, JC!

:hi:

Glad to see you are keeping up with Florida politics! (or should I be sorry?) :D

[Coexist]

2. Janet Reno and Guy James all in the same day

lucky dogs.

[ChickMagic]

6. She needs more Janet Reno Dance Parties!

From what I hear, it was a great success and made national news.

[AzDar]

7. It was AMAZING! I saw it live when it aired, and couldn't believe

someone with such gravitas could be so cool...Brilliant!

[MaryBear]

9. such gravitas? nm

[AzDar]

12. Yeah...I always perceived her as being a bit reserved. She was

a terrific sport...

[MaryBear]

14. Oh. Thanks for explaining, AzDar.

I'm glad she is out and about and doing these things. She has always struck me as very sincere, and learning from you that she is a terrific sport is great.