St. Pete Times: Davis amps up assault on Crist

[seafan]

Davis amps up assault on Crist

By ALEX LEARY, Times Staff Writer
Published October 29, 2006

CAPE CANAVERAL - Backed by a new poll Saturday showing him closing the gap in the race for governor, Democrat Jim Davis intensified his assault on Charlie Crist as a status quo Republican who "missed his chance" to stand up to the insurance industry.

From Cape Canaveral to Daytona Beach, Ocala and Spring Hill, Davis tried to capitalize on Crist's comment earlier this week that, were he governor, he probably would have vetoed the insurance bill passed this spring by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jeb Bush.
As state attorney general and a Cabinet member, Crist is one of four statewide elected officials overseeing regulation of the insurance industry. He said nothing while the bill was being hashed out.

Davis said that's a pattern visible on other major issues, including the Terri Schiavo end-of-life controversy and efforts to drill for oil off Florida's coast.

"He has not stood up for us when we needed him. And I will," Davis said.

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....(Crist's TV ad) that shows an empty chair careening through the streets of Washington as a fictional Florida family looks for its congressman - an allusion to Davis having a poor voting attendance record in Congress due to campaigning.

"I've never sat down, I'm always standing up," he said to loud applause in Ocala.

Despite Davis' newfound bravado, one supporter wants to see more.

"I'm concerned. I don't hear the fire to the extent I want to hear it," said state Rep. Joyce Cusack, D-DeLand, who introduced Davis to a modest crowd at a gymnasium in Daytona Beach. "Why hold back that Charlie Crist doesn't own a house? Why hold back that he can't tell you about family values? He doesn't have kids, he doesn't have a wife."