Orlando Sentinel: Davis Making Points with 'Outsider' Rhetoric

Orlando Sentinel: Davis making points with 'outsider' rhetoric

Jason Garcia, Tallahassee Bureau

On a hot and sticky afternoon here recently, loyal Democrats living in this Republican stronghold squeeze into a small strip-mall office. They've come to see Jim Davis, and he gives them exactly what they want.

His voice dripping with disdain, Davis heaps scorn on the governor and the Legislature, tarring them all as "these politicians in Tallahassee." He condemns the big-money lobbyists in the halls of the Capitol and the industries that hire them.

"This crowd in Tallahassee thinks they own the state," he says, as his audience mutters and nods.

It's the rhetoric of an outsider -- and it's coming from an unlikely source.

Davis is, after all, a former state lawmaker and a current U.S. congressman from Tampa who has spent the past 17 years -- more than half his adult life -- in office. In fact, he has been in elected office for more consecutive years than anyone else running for governor this year.

But Davis, 48, sees a crucial difference between himself and the other contenders, a difference he's making the thrust of his campaign: He is the only candidate who isn't serving in Tallahassee right now.

"I am an outsider in Tallahassee -- just like almost all Floridians who can't afford a lobbyist," Davis said. "It's an enormous advantage."

Davis certainly isn't the first politician to claim the outsider mantle. Even Gov. Jeb Bush -- the son of a president and the brother of a future one -- swept into office eight years ago by running hard against the political establishment.

And it's hard to argue with the results so far. Almost every public poll has Davis ahead of his main primary opponent, state Sen. Rod Smith of Alachua. Some even have him running close to the much-better-known Republican candidates, Attorney General Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher.

But Davis has also cashed in on his insider status. He has raised more money than Smith -- nearly $4.1 million through July -- and has some of his party's biggest names in his corner, including former governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, whose 26 years in statewide office makes him the ultimate Democratic insider.

Fighting special interests

More so than any other candidate in the race, Davis likes to characterize himself as "fighting" something. The foes in his stories are almost invariably deep-pocketed industries, such as oil and gas companies wanting to expand drilling in the Gulf of Mexico or pharmaceutical giants shaping federal prescription-drug policies.

And Davis never misses an opportunity to paint Bush and the Legislature as beholden to those same special interests.

Controlled by Republicans, the Legislature makes an easy target in front of Democratic activists. But the attacks have the added advantage of subtly tarnishing his opponent Smith, who is also a member.

One of Davis' most-repeated anecdotes, which he used during a recent campaign stop at a Sarasota library, is of the time he says he asked an audience in Polk County whether anyone had saved money because of the roughly $19 billion in tax cuts enacted over the past eight years. Those tax breaks have largely benefited corporations and wealthier Floridians. As Davis tells the story, only one person in the entire crowd raised his hand.

"This guy was sitting next to his lobbyist," Davis said, drawing a fresh round of rueful laughs from his audience.

Davis' populist theme is at its most pronounced when he is discussing insurance, particularly a 2005 law that Davis says should be overturned.

Passed by overwhelming margins in both houses of the Legislature, the law says that when the high winds and floods of a hurricane combine to destroy homes, the windstorm insurer has to pay policyholders only for the damage specifically caused by wind.

Davis says the "loophole," as he calls it, leaves homeowners stuck while insurers fight over whether damage was caused by wind or waves. It's an example, he says, of the insurance industry's influence.

"The insurance industry went to the Legislature and said, 'We need a favor,' " Davis told about a dozen people who showed up at an "insurance roundtable" meeting he held in Fort Myers. "And the Legislature went ahead and did the favor."

Supporters of the law, including insurance companies, argue that forcing wind insurers to cover flood damage as well would drive rates even higher than they already are. Labeling the law "a loophole" is especially galling to Smith, who voted for it -- along with, he notes, all but one other member of the 40-seat Senate.

"You think 40 of us missed it and he caught it?" Smith asked.

But it's exactly the kind of rhetoric that resonates with people who are fed up with their insurance companies -- people such as James Hatfield, a 75-year-old retiree who was among those who showed up for Davis' insurance meeting.

Hatfield's carrier recently canceled his homeowners policy, and he said he is convinced insurers hold too much sway in the state Capitol.

"Our voice isn't being heard," Hatfield said, pronouncing himself "impressed" with Davis' plan.

Speaking style

Still, campaigning so aggressively against Florida's political leadership is not without risk. Even in his eighth year in office, Bush remains popular with moderate and conservative voters, and Davis could alienate them come the November general election.

Beneath the "outsider" veneer, Davis is also a mainstream Democrat, though he has earned a moderate reputation in Congress on some issues, such as free trade. As governor, he promises he would reduce the influence of the FCAT, veto tax cuts favoring the affluent and keep government out of decisions similar to the Terri Schiavo case.

Indeed, many of the Democratic activists who are siding with Smith in the campaign say they are doing so because they do not believe Davis will appeal to moderates and conservatives. They say he is too similar to the party's failed candidates of recent years: former Lt. Gov. Buddy MacKay in 1998 and Tampa lawyer Bill McBride in 2002.

"MacKay, McBride, McDavis," said Chris Korge, one of Florida's biggest Democratic fundraisers who is serving as Smith's campaign chairman.

And though Davis casts himself as an outsider, he at times appears very much an insider, sheltered from the press and opponents by campaign staffers. He can also be wooden on the stump, overly reliant on prepared talking points.

It's especially striking in joint appearances with Smith, who is a far more spontaneous and ebullient public speaker.

But supporters cite the sometimes-awkward style as evidence of integrity -- another example, they say, of the difference between Davis and that "crowd in Tallahassee."

"I was teetering, but now I'm on board with him," said Tom Lifsey, a Venice contractor who said he liked Davis' demeanor after watching him in Sarasota. "I think that Jim tells the truth."

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