Where do they get these numbers? I can't believe that Floridians would be so stupid. (no offense Barefoot)

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010527/ts/politics_florida_dc_1.html

MIAMI (Reuters) - A contest for Florida's governorship between Republican incumbent Jeb Bush and former U.S. attorney-general Janet Reno (news - web sites) is likely to be very close, a poll published Sunday by the Miami Herald showed.

Bush, 48, the brother of President Bush (news - web sites), has said he will decide next month whether to seek reelection to a second four-year-term in 2002.

The poll of 600 voters showed Bush ahead of Democrat Reno by 49 per cent to 43 per cent, with 8 per cent undecided. The poll was based on interviews conducted May 22-24 and has a margin of error of plus or minus four points.

Reno, who returned home to Miami after finishing her tenure as attorney general in the Clinton administration, said earlier this month she was considering running for governor in 2002.

``In a competitive governor's race a challenger who has numbers like Reno's keeps incumbents awake at night,'' pollster Rob Schroth said. ``This poll does not suggest she's odds-on favorite but she certainly takes more away from him than any other candidate we tested.''

Reno, 62, was vilified by Cuban Americans in Miami over the 1999-2000 Elian Gonzalez saga, in which she supported returning the young Cuban shipwreck survivor to his father in Cuba. But many other Floridians backed her position and she is generally seen as an honest and concerned figure in a state where corruption has seeped into many areas of political life.

The poll, carried out for the Herald by Schroth and Associates of Washington, put Bush's job disapproval rating at 40 per cent. Schroth also said he saw big opposition to Bush among black voters.

However, those polled also showed concern over Reno's performance. Her job disapproval rating for her eight years as attorney general was 38 per cent, with one-third of those questioned saying they were less likely to vote for her because of her handling of the Branch Davidian compound siege in Waco, Texas, in 1993, in which 83 people were killed in an FBI (news - web sites) raid.

The Elian case hurt her largely among Hispanic voters, it said.

-- Anonymous, May 27, 2001

Answers

I didn't think that Reno's health was all that good. And she's trying for a public office? Is there someone waiting behind the scenes to step in if something should happen to her??

-- Anonymous, May 27, 2001

you mean like a tortilla missle? I just can't believe she is stupid enuff to even try to run. And if we in Florida elect her, we deserve her!!

-- Anonymous, May 27, 2001

Geez! the woman buys a red truck and thinks she can run the state!

-- Anonymous, May 28, 2001