Gainesville Sun - Sink, Smith Receive Warm Welcome at Gainesville Stop

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By Chad Smith

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink and her running mate were in Gainesville for a fundraiser Monday night, one of several the pair will attend around the state in the five weeks left before the election.

Sink, who received a round of applause when she walked in the door at a downtown events hall, was on her home turf, particularly with Rod Smith, a Gainesville area resident, attorney and former state senator, on the ticket.

But in the rest of the state, the fight against Rick Scott won't be easy.

A Rasmussen Reports poll released Friday showed Scott, a Republican with little political experience but loads of cash, with 50 percent of the vote, 6 percent more than Sink. But a Mason-Dixon poll that came out the day before showed the Democrat with a 7 percent advantage.

At the event Monday, she pointed out to reporters that a number of Republican supporters were in the room and that earlier in the day she had picked up an endorsement from a GOP lawmaker from Miami, state Sen. Alex Villalobos.

"People all over Florida are putting party politics aside, and they're making a choice to support the Alex Sink and Rod Smith team," she said.

The job issue is clearly one both sides will focus on.

On CNN on Monday, Scott said he would be the "jobs governor."

"We're going to control government spending," he said, according to a transcript. "We're going to reduce regulation. We're going to phase out business tax. We're going to reduce property tax."

Sink told reporters that Scott doesn't understand Florida's small businesses. She said she will give tax credits to small business owners, put a small business ombudsman in the governor's office and defer new businesses' income taxes for three years.

Later, she met with a group of about 50 black leaders at a get-together described by Alachua County Commissioner Rodney Long as a "great opportunity to ensure that she understands our issues and to hear her solutions."

As Attorney General Bill McCollum did in the Republican primary, Sink criticized Scott for trying to spend his way into office.

"He's already spent $70 million of his own personal wealth to buy the governor's office," she said, "and, you know, I just refuse to let him hijack our state, and the way we're going to do that is enormous grassroots support."

She thought Monday's event was a good example.

Kyra Jennings, a spokeswoman for Sink's campaign, said about 350 people attended the event, where the campaign was asking for $50 to $100 donations to get in to Villa East on North Main Street.

Smith, too, was pleased with the turnout.

"Outside of Tim Tebow, nobody else could get this many folks in this building tonight," he said.

Before signing on to run for lieutenant governor alongside Sink, Smith had his reservations about returning to public life.

He said he's over those now and is ready for the run to Nov. 2.

"It was clearly a difficult decision to leave my practice and get back into politics," he said. "But I'm so excited about Alex and our message, and I think she's addressing the issues people care about -- jobs, this economy overall, education -- the kind of things that I think will make a huge difference."

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