Conventional wisdom would tell you that candidates running for public office should never talk about the negative side of their lives. Ignore it. Downplay it. Hope it goes away.
Joe Redner doesn't believe in conventional wisdom.
Redner has made an astounding bid in an attempt to turn out voters. He is offering free admissions to his Mons Venus exotic dance club if you show up with an "I Voted" sticker. (No word yet on whether voting Supervisor Buddy Johnson plans to counter with any freebies if you show up for the March 27 runoff elections in Tampa sporting an "I Got A Lap-Dance" sticker.)
Redner said he was "disgusted" by the low turnout in the March 6 election, which barely topped 16 percent. The runoff will surely go even lower.
But does this unusual publicity hurt Redner's chances against Gwen Miller, a 12-year incumbent? So far it appears not. And while Pinellas County's penny tax vote last week drew the ire of Catholic Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg, the rise of Redner hasn't drawn similar church-based outrage in Tampa.
"There's going to be spots of opposition," said Terry Kemple, president of the Christian conservative activist group, Community Issues Council, but "I haven't seen any real organized activity." He called it "lethargy" on the part of the Christian conservative community.
Openly fighting Redner might only elevate his candidacy and motivate his voters to turn out. And Christian conservative activists have other problems in trying to fight Redner. First and foremost, they don't have a conservative candidate to rally around; Miller is a liberal and longtime Democratic mainstay. Second, the larger, more politically active churches are outside of Tampa city limits and many of its members can't vote. Third, the Redner vote is more anti-establishment than pro-adult entertainment, making it hard to rip his supporters away from him on the grounds of morality.
That doesn't mean that Kemple and other Christian conservative leaders are happy about Redner making the runoff.
"I think that there's concern on the part of conservative leaders who feel it would be a travesty" if Redner were elected, he said, adding he can already envision the jokes on Jay Leno's Tonight Show.
And while there may not be much organized opposition, Kemple said, "I will tell you this: There are a lot of people who are praying about it."
Differences: Aside from the whole strip-club thing, there are some clear differences emerging between Redner and Miller. Redner would seek deep tax cuts; Miller would not cut city services and has changed her position several times on cutting property taxes. Miller would give developers incentives to provide affordable housing in their projects; Redner would mandate it.
Making Sense of Pinellas: There is no making sense of Pinellas County. Especially when it comes to how its voters perform. And that brings us to last week's elections. In addition to Penny for Pinellas, voters considered a number of municipal races and referenda.
Using my many years of experience in the field, here are the conclusions we can draw from last week's balloting. Pinellas voters are:
Pro-Tax: They approved the Penny for Pinellas by a wide margin, 57 to 43 percent. That extends an additional 1 percent sales tax for big-ticket projects for another 10 years, despite the opposition of Bishop Lynch and the Cut Taxes Now group.
Anti-Tax: Clearwater voters chose a political unknown, Paul Gibson, who ran as a tax-fighter. He squeaked out a win against the St. Petersburg Times-chosen candidate, Norma Carlough, which, in Clearwater, is very rare.
Happy with Government: For the first time, Clearwater voters approved a change to their waterfront, to allow boat slips to be built. Those same voters had for decades turned away other redevelopment efforts for the Bluffs, waterfront and Coachman Park.
Unhappy with Government: In St. Pete Beach, two rabidly anti-establishment, anti-development candidates won seats on the City Commission. Linda Chaney and Harry Metz are founders of Citizens for Responsible Growth, which has sued the city over its development plans.
For more on the Tampa elections, go to Blurbex.com.
This article appears in Mar 21-27, 2007.