TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — While the political hurricane roared through this state capital, Gov. Jeb Bush struggled to stay in the calm of the eye.
But it wasn't just the fate of his older brother, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, at stake in Florida's presidential election fiasco. It was his own.
Democrats itching to regain power at the statehouse say the popular Republican governor may have damaged his prospects for reelection in 2002. Even state GOP leaders admit he has lost ground, especially among African American voters.
"Jeb's aura of invincibility is gone," said Florida Democratic Party Chairman Bob Poe.
But no Democrat with statewide stature has signaled any interest in challenging Bush. And strategists on both sides say he has plenty of time to recover from what may be short-term trouble.
"I'm not convinced he's been mortally wounded by all this," said Jim Kane, chief pollster at the independent Florida Voter Poll.
He Kept His Distance From Brother's Woes
Upon returning to Tallahassee from his family's harrowing election night vigil in Texas, Bush distanced himself publicly from his brother's political combat.
The scene last Thursday morning at the governor's office in the Florida Capitol was typical.
Upstairs, state legislators debated a Republican plan designed to ensure that George W. Bush would win the White House. In courtrooms just east of the Capitol, two trials threatened to swing the election to Vice President Al Gore by throwing out Republican absentee ballots.
In a courthouse just west of the Capitol, the state Supreme Court held a historic hearing on the election dispute. Nearly everyone in Tallahassee who couldn't fit in the courtroom seemed to watch it on television.
Where was Jeb Bush?
At that very moment, as the political storm raged on all sides, he staged his only public event of the day: He welcomed the arrival of his office Christmas tree. Seeming to have not a care in the world, he cooed at a baby cradled in a woman's arms: "Ahhhh."
Bush's advisors hope that, because he was able to lie low during the election mess, his role in it will be all but forgotten by the time he's up for reelection.
"Two years from now, I doubt very seriously whether Florida will care much about whether there's a hanging chad--as opposed to whether their kid's education is improving," said Tre Evers, a Florida GOP strategist and fund-raiser for the Bush brothers.
