Betty Castor Update #21 - Debate night

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Monday October 18, 2004 · 7:24 PM PDT

2004/10/18 · 19:24

The debate finished approximately two hours ago...Betty won hands down. She was intelligent, strong, and she infused her rhetoric with the language and feeling of moral outrage over Mel Martinez's stances and actions. Betty made quite an impression on swing voters tonight.

Here's the AP's write up:

Castor, Martinez face off in first debate

BRENDAN FARRINGTON

Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. - Just about the only thing Republican Mel Martinez and Democrat Betty Castor agreed on Monday during the first of two U.S. Senate debates is that it's time to talk about something other than Sami Al-Arian.

They differed on abortion rights, the war in Iraq, President Bush's tax cuts, a proposal to increase minimum wage and how to solve a looming crisis in the Social Security program.

"How can you justify continuing tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans when we are at war, when we have not kept faith with our veterans, when we have young men and women coming back from this war who do not have health care coverage?" Castor asked Martinez.

"Because I understand what makes America work," Martinez responded. "We put in place a tax cut which created economic opportunity, which created growth, which put people back to work."

Martinez then asked Castor why she would support a tax increase.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I have no tax proposal out there," she said.

LINK

Betty Castor Update #20 - Jeb Bush jumps into the fray

chrissmith

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Friday October 15, 2004 · 9:34 PM PDT

2004/10/15 · 21:34

It seems as if Betty's latest ad has struck a nerve at the White House and the Mel Martinez campaign (but I repeat myself).

Martinez has released an ad featuring the biggest of all possible Florida GOP surrogates - Governor Jeb Bush.

Bush Ad Accuses Castor Of Not Acting Against `Suspected Terrorists'

Bush Ad Accuses Castor Of Not Acting Against `Suspected Terrorists'
By MICHAEL FECHTER mfechter@tampatrib.com
Published: Oct 16, 2004

TAMPA - Gov. Jeb Bush, who took no apparent action to help the University of South Florida deal with suspected terror supporter Sami Al-Arian, now accuses U.S. Senate candidate Betty Castor of failing to act on the matter when she was USF's president.

..more...

Bush has no credibility on the issue, Castor campaign spokesman Dan McLaughlin said. He says media reports show Al-Arian's private Islamic school received $350,000 under the governor's voucher program. He said he had no knowledge that money was diverted to purposes beyond education.

Of course...Jeb has his own terrorist problem. LINK

The Bush dynasty and the Cuban criminals

New book reveals links of two presidents and the governor of Florida with exiled hardliners

Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles
Monday December 2, 2002
The Guardian

The brother of President George Bush, the Florida governor, Jeb Bush, has been instrumental in securing the release from prison of militant Cuban exiles convicted of terrorist offences, according to a new book. The Bush family has also accommodated the demands of Cuban exile hardliners in exchange for electoral and financial support, the book suggests.

Betty Castor Update #19 - Betty ties Martinez to Bush

chrissmith

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Tuesday September 28, 2004 · 8:33 AM PDT

2004/09/28 · 08:33

LINK

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Betty Castor's first commercial in South Florida aims to turn what rival Republican Mel Martínez sees as a strength into a weakness: his ties to President Bush.

Martínez, Bush's former housing secretary, frequently trumpets their relationship to boost his credibility and popularity. But Castor apparently thinks that such a close alliance with the candidate who just barely won the state four years ago is a vulnerability, at least in South Florida.

Why you should vote Betty Castor in DFA's new contest

chrissmith

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Tuesday September 21, 2004 · 8:44 AM PDT

2004/09/21 · 08:44

This is Betty Castor.

Here are a couple of reasons:

(1) The Grassroots embraced Betty first.

Florida DFAers, as well as other grassroots activists, provided a critical boost to Betty's campaign early in the Florida Senate primary. The Florida DFA grassroots took the bold step of endorsing Betty...long before the national DFA was ready to.
LINK

(2) Betty embraced the grassroots back.

Throughout her campaign, Betty has experimented with DIY politics and internet-based organizing more than any other candidate in Florida history. Not only has she raised more than $100K online, she has one of the largest meetup groups in the country. She has quite openly delegated responsibility for her campaign to activists in Miami, Orlando, Tallahassee, and elsewhere in Florida. In May, she hosted the largest house party night in Florida history when activists around the state put together 75 simultaenous house parties for Betty. When Howard Dean came to Florida in August, she cheerfully stood side by side with him.And plus...she's actually attended a meetup.

(3) Betty is a super lady. And she'll help Kerry win Florida, too.

Betty Castor Update #18 - New Poll, New Ad

chrissmith

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Wednesday September 15, 2004 · 11:30 AM PDT

2004/09/15 · 11:30

Now that Hurricane Frances has subsided, the FL US Senate race is moving forward. There's a new poll out showing Betty leading Mel by 4 (including a suprising lead among military veterans):

LINK TO POLL RESULTS (PDF)

CASTOR 49%, MARTINEZ 45% TODAY. MARTINEZ UP 2 AMONG MEN, CASTOR UP 12 AMONG WOMEN.

MARTINEZ UP 2 AMONG WHITES, AND UP 20 AMONG HISPANICS, CASTOR UP 67 AMONG BLACKS.

15% OF BUSH VOTERS SPLIT TICKET & CROSS-OVER TO VOTE FOR DEMOCRAT CASTOR.

chrissmith

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Thursday September 02, 2004 · 6:44 AM PDT

2004/09/02 · 06:44

The Democrats wasted no time in listing the differences between Castor and Martinez. The toughest words came from Graham, who said Martinez, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, was likely to vote in lockstep with President Bush while saying Castor would be a voice for Florida voters.

"I think he is a good human being, and he strives to do what is right," Graham said of Martinez. "Can we elect a person who says, `If I become your United States senator, I will essentially hand my vote over to the president'?"

LINK

Betty Castor Update # 16 - Latest Polling

chrissmith

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Tuesday August 31, 2004 · 9:17 AM PDT

2004/08/31 · 09:17

Castor holds a 2-to-1 lead over her closest rival, U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch of Hollywood, the St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald poll found.

Castor is favored by 48 percent of Democrats, Deutsch by 24 percent and Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas by 9 percent. Eighteen percent are undecided.

LINK

chrissmith

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Friday August 27, 2004 · 7:59 AM PDT

2004/08/27 · 07:59

A former professor with suspected terrorist ties and U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch's combative nature wound up providing most of the excitement Thursday in the last Democratic Senate debate before the election.

Deutsch angrily criticized Democratic Senate front-runner Betty Castor for not doing more to rid the University of South Florida of Sami Al-Arian, a professor awaiting trial on charges he raised money for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

LINK Read More

Betty Castor Update # 14 - New Polling

chrissmith

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Thursday August 26, 2004 · 12:38 PM PDT

2004/08/26 · 12:38

Former state Education Commissioner Betty Castor holds a double-digit advantage over U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch in Tuesday's U.S. Senate Democratic primary, according to a poll published by several newspapers Thursday.
The survey, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, shows Castor with 45 percent of likely Democratic voters. Deutsch had 31 percent and Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas had 9 percent. Fourteen percent were undecided and Hollywood businessman Bernard Klein had 1 percent.

The poll of 500 respondents, conducted Monday and Tuesday, had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.

LINK Read More

Betty Castor Update #13 - Dean rallies with Betty

chrissmith

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Tuesday August 24, 2004 · 3:58 PM PDT

2004/08/24 · 15:58

"We've got to hold onto Bob Graham's seat, and Better Castor can do that better than anybody else," Dean said, after being greeted by roaring applause at the Harriet Himmel Gilman Theater.