State: Bush rolls tape of McBride missteps

TALLAHASSEE -- Bill McBride's smooth-running campaign for governor was knocked off stride Friday after Gov. Jeb Bush's campaign released a videotape of a July speech in which McBride said he was not philosophically opposed to school vouchers.

The tape, combined with what the Bush camp says are inconsistent statements by McBride on other topics, is part of an aggressive Republican effort to plant doubts about the surging McBride among Democratic voters who will choose Bush's opponent in Tuesday's primary.

That effort drew a rebuke from Florida's two U.S. senators, Democrats Bob Graham and Bill Nelson, who wrote a letter to Bush asking him to stop interfering with the Democratic primary.

The Bush strategy forced McBride to spend precious time in the closing days of the primary campaign to respond to repeated questions about his own previous public statements.

In a July 19 talk to the Tiger Bay Club in Jacksonville, recorded by a Bush campaign worker, McBride began an answer to a question by saying, "I philosophically am not against vouchers."

But McBride went on to restate his "vehement" opposition to Bush's voucher plan, a stand that helped earn McBride the backing and millions of dollars in TV advertising from the state teachers union. "I think that's wrong," he said of vouchers. "I won't do it."

McBride said Friday he misspoke. He said he has always opposed using tax dollars to send students to private or religious schools, but that he supports private schools and attended one as a youngster.

"If I misspoke, it was trying to put two thoughts together," McBride said Friday. "I am adamantly opposed, and have always been opposed, to the voucher program. I think it's bad for public schools. I'm not against private schools or parochial schools."

Still, Bush's campaign brandished the tape as proof of what it says is a pattern by the Democrat to adjust his message to be all things to all people.

"He seems to have a habit of tailoring his remarks, depending on whether he's in a conservative part of the state or in front of a liberal audience," said Bush campaign spokesman Todd Harris.

Several times, Harris compared McBride to Al Gore, who was criticized by Republicans in the 2000 presidential election for exaggerations. Harris called McBride "Gore-esque" and called his statements "Goreisms." Bush himself has not called attention to the divisive 2000 presidential race that ended with his brother winning Florida -- and the election -- by 537 votes.

The Bush camp also cited an Aug. 31 Pensacola News-Journal article that paraphrased McBride as saying he "grew up in Northwest Florida." McBride was born in Belleville, Ill., and moved to Leesburg, northwest of Orlando, when he was 9.

Harris also cited an Aug. 31 Destin Log article that said McBride told a voter he would not pick Reno as a running mate. In a TV debate last week, McBride said he would consider Reno.

In another case cited by Harris, McBride told the Tampa Tribune in 1996 that he cut his salary by $40,000 when he became managing partner at Holland & Knight.

A few days ago, McBride told the Orlando Sentinel it was a $100,000 pay cut.

McBride spokesman Alan Stonecipher said Friday McBride took a $64,000 cut, equal to the salary of the lowest-paid partner, and also refused bonuses in 1991 and 1992. McBride said it happened years ago and he misspoke. "I've got to start being more careful," he said at a rally with volunteers in Tampa.

Maureen Dinnen, president of the Florida Education Association, which is helping finance McBride's media campaign, called the Bush charges "stupid" and "silly," and said McBride has never left a doubt about his position.

"I have no doubt that he is against vouchers," Dinnen said. "I wonder why the governor doesn't want Democrats to vote for McBride next Tuesday."

Bush and his party have paid for a multimillion-dollar TV ad campaign aimed at McBride, as independent polls show McBride would be a stronger opponent for Bush than former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno. Democrats on Tuesday will choose McBride, Reno or state Sen. Daryl Jones of Miami as their party's nominee.

In their letter to Bush, U.S. Sens. Graham and Nelson wrote that voters should be allowed to decide for themselves, and that "Such attack ads, focusing on one of the three Democratic candidates, is unprecedented in Florida, and is an entirely inappropriate attempt by your party to hand pick a November election opponent."

Harris called the anti-McBride TV ads an "insurance policy" for the forthcoming general election.

Totally lost in Friday's cross-fire was McBride's message, which has found a receptive audience in recent weeks. He held a round-table talk with child advocates and leaders of nonprofit groups, who complained of a lack of resources in Bush's administration for pre-kindergarten education, juvenile crime prevention and teenage pregnancy.

"We are leaving children behind," said Barbara Foster, policy director of the Policy Group, contradicting Bush's promise to "leave no child behind" in Florida. Foster said 20 percent of kids in Florida live below the poverty level, and the figure is increasing while the national trend is downward.

Dee Richter of the Florida Network of Youth and Family Services said cuts in juvenile justice programs, totaling 23 percent over three years, mean "families are going without services," especially in rural areas.

-- Times reporters Wes Allison and Adam C. Smith contributed to this report.

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