NewsMax Staff
Monday, Sept. 2, 2002

As the Sept. 10 Democratic primary looms, the winner of that contest will face Gov. Jeb Bush on Nov. 5.

In the Miami Herald, St. Petersburg Times poll, Reno, Bill Clinton’s attorney general for eight years, still remains slightly ahead - and was favored by 40 percent of those sampled, with 38 percent for McBride. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

In the Orlando Sentinel, South Florida Sun-Sentinel poll, Reno has garnered 37 percent and McBride 34 percent.

Pollster Rob Schroth of Schroth & Associates, who conducted the former survey with Kellyanne Conway of The Polling Company, says McBride may have pulled farther ahead since the poll was taken.

"The poll conclusively demonstrates that Janet Reno is on the verge of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory," Schroth said.

But some Florida political pundits suggest that Reno will still be the likely winner. Reno’s hopes for victory may depend on a big turnout among the elderly, black voters and liberal South Florida residents - and these voting groups favor Reno and usually vote on primary day.

Other analysts have suggested that McBride’s surprise performance in the polls was triggered by a $3.5 million advertising campaign that showcases his plan to improve public schools.

McBride routinely criticizes Gov. Jeb Bush’s education policies, contrasting his plan to raise teacher salaries and reduce class size.

McBride and other Democrats fault Gov. Bush for opposing a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would mandate smaller class sizes in public schools.

Meanwhile, in damage control mode, Reno campaign manager Mo Elleithee emphasizes that the polls illustrated her boss’s strength among elderly and black voters.

Elleithee added that Reno was being outspent on television advertising. "People will not allow the person with the most money to be the de facto nominee,” Elleithee said.

The polls also had bad news for Gov. Bush, suggesting that he may be vulnerable indicating that his approval rating among Democrats has dropped from 33 percent in April to 22 percent today. Furthermore, his disapproval rating has soared from 34 percent to 68 percent.

Bad news also for President George W. Bush: in April, he had a 50 percent approval rating among Florida’s Democrats, while today it is 27 percent.

Furthermore, 64 percent of Democrats think Florida is heading in the wrong direction - up from 54 percent in April.

In other poll results, 54 percent said Reno’s action in the Elián Gonzalas and the deadly raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, would harm her chances - while 38 percent said it would not.

In contrast, those polled were split when asked if the charge that McBride "is a wealthy corporate lawyer who mismanaged his law firm and caused large numbers of layoffs" would harm his hopes for election.

Editor's Note: Please read former FBI agent Gary Aldrich's uregent letter about Janet Reno -- Click here now for "Reno Exposed!"

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Janet Reno

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