Last Monday, after garnering an eleventh-hour ruling from 17th Judicial Circuit Judge Leroy Moe, multimillionaire Reform Party candidate Max Linn, 47, a former Republican, startled Republican Charlie Crist and Democrat Jim Davis at Monday’s final Florida gubernatorial debate in Tampa simply by showing up.
Not one to avoid the spotlight, Linn also startled Central Florida motorists two weeks ago, when he made an emergency landing in his light plane on an Interstate near Orlando, while on the campaign trail.
Though a political outsider and not widely known among Florida voters, Linn is not new to Florida politics, having run unsuccessfully for the state Senate in 1990. He was also instrumental in helping to make Florida’s term limit law a reality.
The debate, moderated by Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s Hardball, was considerably enlivened by Linn’s surprise appearance, and may have seriously damaged Republican Crist’s campaign as Linn and Democrat Davis joined forces to attack Crist.
Because of Matthews’ presence as moderator, the debate was televised nationally on MSNBC, and Matthews conducted it as if he were hosting Hardball; asking direct, blunt, and insistent questions of the candidates, rather than taking the traditional moderator’s neutral stance. The normally unflappable Crist was visibly shaken by Matthews’ questions and Linn’s attacks, forcing him into a defensive posture, a situation unfamiliar to him as the frontrunner in the race.
As the Reform Party candidate, Linn presents an interesting and complex political ideology to the voters of Florida. He has chosen the conservative mayor of Avon Park, Tom Macklin, known for his crackdown on illegal immigrants in that rural central Florida town, as his running mate. One of his objectives as governor, Linn has said, is to make English Florida’s official language; a position that will not be popular with South Florida’s majority Latino population.
Yet, Linn supports embryonic stem cell research, is against restricting abortion, and is opposed to the death penalty. He has also plunged headlong into a major Florida controversy by announcing his opposition to the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, the FCAT, brainchild of Republican Governor Jeb Bush. Linn characterizes education as his "number one priority."
Article comments
1 - RJ Elliott
"Clavos says he's fluent in Spanish"
Que bueno!
"and can annoy waiters and cabdrivers in Portuguese"
Sim? Bom!
"Italian"
Affanculo!
"and French"
Fromage!
;-P
2 - RJ Elliott
That being said, let's hope Crist wins this thing. Linn has no hope of actually winning (even though he is arguably the best candidate), and Davis would be an absolute nightmare (at least in my opinion).
3 - Clavos
RJ,
¡Gracias!
Obrigado!
Grazie!
Merci, M'sieu!
I agree; Linn would make the best governor of the three, but, as you say, he won't even come close to winning -- unless there are snowdrifts on the Beeline come Tuesday morning.
There's something about both Davis, and to a lesser extent, Crist, that just gives me an uneasy feeling.
That said, of the two I prefer Crist. However, he's by no means the shoo-in he was just two or three weeks ago.
A lot will depend on both turnout and which way the swing voters go, which could put Linn in the position of spoiler for Crist.
4 - MCH
Clavvy,
You forgot the "a" in "enthusiasts."
Signed,
Your friendly, neighborhood REMF.
5 - Clavos
Thanks for reading and proofreading, emmy.
Sharp eye!
Would you believe I left it out to see who'd pick up on it?
Naah, neither would I...
6 - Clavos
This morning's Miami Herald quotes pollster John Zogby as saying his latest poll indicates Republican Crist is ahead of Democrat Davis 48% to 38%, with Reform candidate Linn clocking in at 3%, and 10% of the voters still undecided.
7 - MCH
Well, it caught my eye only because my wife and I do several different things (not necessarily boating) at which we are also avid enthusiasts. Although water skiing has been one of my lifelong favorite sports.
8 - Matthew T. Sussman
"Clavos has finally found his niche as a self-employed used boat salesman"
Clavos is Donnie Baker?
(I swerr to God he is.)
9 - Clavos
MCH,
Used to do a lot of water skiing myself, but don't have the right kind of boat for that anymore.
Used to do a lot of SCUBA diving, too.
Sigh...
10 - Clavos
Suss,
I swear to God I'm not...
BUT...wanna buy a boat??
11 - Spudman
Clavos,
You need a little work on your French spelling and I am a better used boat salesman than you.
Great article. Without question Davis is better than Crist but Lin would be excellent if he could garner enough votes to win. We both know that won't happen.
Spudman
12 - Clavos
SpudDude sez,
You need a little work on your French spelling and I am a better used boat salesman than you.
Mais non, M'sieu!
And nobody's a better used boat salesman than I!
Remember to vote; early and often...
Clavos
13 - Matthew T. Sussman
Why don't ya say it to my face?
14 - Clavos
I will. I have to.
It's a state law. Look it up.
I gotta go.
15 - Clavos
OK, Suss,
That said, it's truth time -- I'm looking all this up on Wikipedia; I never heard of Donnie Baker until your post. As far as I know, he's not on the air here in South Florida.
Just looked it up; the closest station is in W. Palm Beach, but it carried on the 'net -- I'll check it out...
16 - Donnie Marler
Donnie Baker! "I swear to God, man!" lol. Bob&Tom Show. Classic stuff, and he had a boat for sale!!
17 - Scott
After watching Crist's horrible performance in the debates, I voted for Davis (I voted early, very convenient). Both would probably be equally bad. I have no doubt Crist will win it, but I'm betting it will be closer than many people think and that the polls are showing.
Plus, Crist freaks me out. He's too tan.
18 - Clavos
Scott,
I have no doubt Crist will win it, but I'm betting it will be closer than many people think and that the polls are showing.
Last I heard the margin was about 10% in favor of Crist, but I agree with you; I always take the polls (especially exit polls) with a huge grain of salt -- they've been wrong too often in the past, and I do think it will be tighter than 10%.
I'm very interested in seeing how Linn does. As others have said, he really does appear to be the best candidate of the three.
Early voting or absentee is definitely the way to go this year. I have a feeling the polling places are going to be chaotic as both voters and pollworkers try to cope with the machines.