An African-American Lt. Governor running mate for Jim Davis?

From the St. Petersburg Times

TALLAHASSEE - Supporters of Jim Davis say the Democratic nominee for governor should choose an African-American running mate from South Florida to shore up his weak standing with black voters in the state's most populous region.

Two of the most talked-about names to join the ticket as Davis' lieutenant governor are former state Sen. Daryl Jones of Miami, a high-ranking Air Force reservist who ran for governor in 2002, and state Rep. Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale, the outgoing House minority leader.

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A former fighter pilot, Jones, 51, was nominated by President Bill Clinton to be Air Force secretary but failed to win confirmation in the Senate amid a series of allegations about his record and whether he gave truthful responses. Jones has a long history in the Legislature, including a decade as a senator from south Miami-Dade County.

Smith, 36, a lawyer, represents a predominantly black district in Fort Lauderdale, and he was neutral in the Davis-Smith primary. In his first House race in 1998, Smith endorsed Republican Jeb Bush for governor, a decision he later withdrew and said he regretted.

Neither Jones or Smith will be of much help to the Davis campaign. It isn't about their skin color. TFM doesn't care if a politician is either white, black, Latin-American, Asian, or even two-headed green Martian lesbian('Take us to your beaver') either.

What comes down to is the following.

1- Few people care who the Lt Governor is or should be. Toni Jennings is the current one. If a survey was done in Florida, I doubt 10% of the residents here would be able to name the Lt. Governor.

2- African-American voters vote heavily Democratic.(George W Bush got less than 10% in 2000) Jones or Smith's addition to the ticket won't draw many additional votes for Davis. Then I think that applies to any one Davis could choose as his running mate.

Davis could pick anyone for his Lt. Governor, even that martian mentioned above. There is no candidate that would make me vote to elect that knucklehead to be our next governor.

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