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Janet or Jeb... which evil is lesser?

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

08:08 / 07.09.02

Janet Reno is, as I'm sure those of you more clued-up on American domestic politics than me (who has to just hear stuff on the World Service late at night and hope he's dreaming), standing against Jeb Bush in Florida.

Yes, THAT Jeb Bush. But also, THAT Janet Reno. Of Waco fame.

Probably not anywhere near as evil as that good ole boy Jeb, but still...

Anyone got any opinions or more information?

Her website's here

09:31 / 07.09.02

Reno hasn't been selected to even be candidate for the democrats yet, and it looks like there are better candidates more likely to gain gain votes than Reno, so we might net even get to see the contest.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

09:36 / 07.09.02

How many candidates does each party field? I'm not really up on the US electoral system... and what are the others like?

shirtless, beepers and suntans

16:14 / 07.09.02

primaries are coming up in florida. since jeb is the incumbent, it'll be democrats janet reno, bill mcbride and daryl jones. my money's on janet reno to take the primary, just because she's got name recognition and probably out-of-state supporters than the other two. for the november election, i think bush will likely be re-elected, but last time i checked the polls it was pretty close. i personally like jeb. clearly the smarter of the two bush brothers in office. i'd vote for him, if i can ever get off my lazy ass and remember to register absentee.

17:18 / 07.09.02

I seem to remember reading in an op-ed piece that it was Reno's Parkinson's that might have a detrimental effect on her campaign. But she is a one tough broad. The whole "buck stops with me" taking on of responsibility for Waco was a helluva change in the capital city of bullet dodgers.

Oh well. I'm not in Florida but I'll be curious to who gets it.

17:19 / 07.09.02

grant, you're a Floridian. What's your take on it?

15:31 / 09.09.02

I would do almost anything to get Jeb out of office.
He's replaced park rangers with Wackenhut security guards, and he's responsible for a lot of the mess DCF is in right now.

DCF = Department of Children & Families = that agency that keeps "losing" children = that agency that he's appointed two leaders for who are not the kind of people you want dealing with kids in danger or battered women. The outgoing one was a judge and Bush buddy with NO experience in family support (or with running a bureaucracy, if my sources are right). The incoming one, well, has authored Christian pamphlets saying that it's OK if husbands hit their wives if the wives "rebuke them" more than once, and that it's OK to spank your kids hard enough to leave bruises. Spanking I have little problem with; bruises, I have a problem with. When critics point this out, the guy simply says "Oh, that was 10 years ago." Hmmm.

I don't think Reno can beat Jeb. She's too associated with Clinton, she took Elian away and gave him back to his dad, and she has Parkinson's (and collapsed during a speech a few months back). Personally, I've always kind of liked her. But I'd rather see McBride run.

16:42 / 10.09.02

Reno has already asked for an extension because of voting problems in Broward and Dade with the new electronic balloting machines.

The senior citizens who help run the voting places can't deal with the computers.

16:44 / 10.09.02

To clarify: today's the primary, where the Democrats decide who's actually facing Jeb in November for the big election.

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

18:26 / 10.09.02

The problem with the campaign down there is that th Re-blood-licans think that McBride can beat Bush in the fall, so they are pushing for Janet Reno. According to the people who work on ABC's The Note (a political junkie's journal on-line) they are feeding pro Reno stories to the local media and having Bush do anti-McBride work already.

And to be honest, this is the kind of crap that disturbs me about American politics...it's not about the ideas of the person running, it's all about the person.

02:26 / 11.09.02

Egads. Not again.

17:37 / 11.09.02

Yes.

Again.

We should be used to this by now.

Even Reno couldn't vote.
While polls were scheduled to be open at 7 a.m., not all places were ready. Even Reno was turned away when she tried to vote at St. Catherine Siena Church on 107th Avenue this morning. She was able to voter later.

"I think that it is important that the voters overcome mistakes made by others or failure to plan by others," the former U.S.attorney general said. "I think voters can get to the polls. And I know, judging by people, that they will try their level best at lunch hour (and) on their way home."

Reno said that she was concerned about the reports of delays, including one precinct in a predominantly black Miami neighborhood where voting didn't begin until 11:45 a.m., nearly five hours after polls opened.

Officials estimated about 500 people were unable to vote. In Miami-Dade County, 68 polling stations were still closed at 9 a.m., two hours after they were supposed to open, according to Mayor Alex Penelas.

Another candidate in the race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination also ran into trouble when he tried to cast his ballot. Daryl Jones says at least five voting machines were not working where he voted in southwest Miami-Dade County. Jones says though he's discouraged by the problems, he believes voters will still be able to cast their ballots and make the right choice.