The Zeal Against Jeb

WATCHING President Bush’s brother Jeb struggle to win re-election against a little-known trial lawyer, it’s hard not to suspect that Democrats are trying extra-hard to exact revenge for Florida 2000—that the barrage of attacks against Jeb is payback for George W’s victory.

Then again, maybe it’s purely Jeb’s fault that he’s in a neck-and-neck race against Bill McBride (who came from behind to defeat Janet Reno by a hair in the Democratic primary). Maybe he’s tied with his opponent in the polls for reasons other than a concerted effort to defeat him by embittered Democrats. The maybes continue to pile up: Maybe the governor is neglecting grassroots campaigning in favor of heavy media buys, in time-honored Bush fashion; maybe he’s distracted, as any loving father would be, by the recent incarceration of his daughter for possession of narcotics; or maybe, as Republican state comptroller Bob Milligan says, Jeb “hasn’t surrounded himself with the best people” in his campaign.

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Bernadette Malone

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WATCHING President Bush’s brother Jeb struggle to win re-election against a little-known trial lawyer, it’s hard not to suspect that Democrats are trying extra-hard to exact revenge for Florida 2000—that the barrage of attacks against Jeb is payback for George W’s victory.

Then again, maybe it’s purely Jeb’s fault that he’s in a neck-and-neck race against Bill McBride (who came from behind to defeat Janet Reno by a hair in the Democratic primary). Maybe he’s tied with his opponent in the polls for reasons other than a concerted effort to defeat him by embittered Democrats. The maybes continue to pile up: Maybe the governor is neglecting grassroots campaigning in favor of heavy media buys, in time-honored Bush fashion; maybe he’s distracted, as any loving father would be, by the recent incarceration of his daughter for possession of narcotics; or maybe, as Republican state comptroller Bob Milligan says, Jeb “hasn’t surrounded himself with the best people” in his campaign.