This week Sheldon brought out his bipartisan committee as he tries to get Republicans to break from Bondi and support his campaign. The new committee is headed by the likes of longtime Tampa attorney Mary Ann Stiles, who has been active in politics at the state and national levels since the 1970s and attorney Benton Becker, who helped advise Gerald Ford to pardon Richard Nixon back in 1974.
The new wing of Sheldons campaign looks to win over moderate Republicans, offering the usual sighs and platitudes that the GOP has become too extreme, even as it holds every state Cabinet office and has held the governorship for 16 years. In doing so, Sheldon is just the latest Democrat who seems to think moderate Republicans are still a force, that the GOP was shaped by the likes of Nelson Rockefeller instead of Ronald Reagan.
Sheldon needs to look higher up the Democratic ticket to see how effective moderate Republicans can be in Florida. Charlie Crist established himself in 2000 as a force for Florida Republicans when he became education commissioner by defeating, of all people, George Sheldon in the general election. Crist went on to become attorney general -- with Sheldon running in the Democratic primary to take him on -- in 2002 and governor in 2006.
But in 2010 it was a different story. After backing Barack Obamas stimulus, Crist became a persona non grata with Florida Republicans. Despite a massive lead over Marco Rubio, Crist got caught in the U.S. Senate primary and ended up ditching the GOP to keep his political ambitions intact. Crist jumped over to the Democrats at the end of 2012. Now that he is running against Rick Scott, most polls show Crist cant command much support from Florida Republicans, even though he's run five times for state office under the GOP banner.
As Crist learned the hard way, the GOP has become more conservative since the days when Ford and Rockefeller commanded the party. Its a lesson Crist should have already known from his many years leading the GOP.
Sheldons new group might win a little notice from the mainstream media, the same way the likes of Bill Weld, Lowell Weicker, Larry Pressler, Jim Leach and John Anderson did by backing Barack Obama in 2008. But its not going to drive many votes away from Bondi, and fiscal conservatives who are socially liberal already have a good option in scrappy Libertarian lawyer Bill Wohlsifer.
As he looks to catch Bondi, Sheldon needs to go bold. Relying on the Ford presidency for help seemed a bit off in 2000 when George W. Bush brought Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld out of political exile. The Ford White House has only grown staler in the 14 years since then. If Sheldon wants to make a race of it, he needs to throw a few Hail Marys, not go back to the time of mood rings, disco and pet rocks.
Tallahassee-based political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this analysis exclusively for Sunshine State News.
