At the LGBT Democratic Caucus Winter meeting being held in St. Petersburg today, Democratic Attorney General candidates Dave Aronberg and Dan Gelber engaged in a free flowing debate where they spent much of their time bashing the man who currently holds the job they aspire to, Bill McCollum.

When asked by the moderator (this reporter) if they were satisfied with McCollum waiting until new GOP Party Chair John Thrasher was elected to hold a “forensic” audit on the use of American Express cards by key Republican leaders, both men non-surprisingly exploited the growing scandal by taking issue with the AG's response -or lack of one.

Dave Aronberg said that the issue is something that the Attorney General should be involved in, because he said there could be criminal violations of the state's ban on gift giving by lobbyists. Gelber said the case demonstrates an "incredible amount of hubris" on the part of state GOP officials. He agreed that McCollum should look into the unfolding story, and that the receipts of all those who were issued Amex cards by former GOP chairman Jim Greer should be released.

When asked about the fact that Florida now houses more than 100,000 prisoners in its criminal justice system, but the costs to build new prisons run over a $100 million, Gelber said that though he's been a prosecutor (a fact he repeated in many of his responses), "I will tell you that the best way to stop crime is on the front end." He then said that the fact that the young man he worked with as a Big Brother has graduated with honors from high school and is now studying in college was (next to his family) one of his proudest achievements.

Aronberg responded by saying there could be a "real impact" on the state's burgeoning prison population by using more drug courts. He attributed some of the problems as being beyond the state's control in the form of federal mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines. But he said "if you have an AG who will use the bully pulpit, and make it as part of his legislative agenda, 1^st time drug offenders away from prison and toward rehabilitation, I think you’ll see a real difference. I think our jails should be crowded for violent offenders. When they’re first time nonviolent drug offenders, I think there should be more diversion. And drug courts should be a model. "

This article appears in Feb 24 – Mar 2, 2010.