by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
There’s plenty to suggest that Pres. George Bush’s coattails aren’t what they used to be, but North Florida Republicans are still grabbing on for the ride.
Some media reports tally Bush’s approval rating at around 30 percent. That figure appears to have eroded some of Bush’s clout with his party. He’s had a hard time convincing Congress to follow him on Social Security and on immigration. But Mike Hightower, chairman of the Duval County Republican Party, is betting that Bush can still sway voters in North Florida.
“The president’s numbers are still higher here than any other part of the country,” said Hightower, who is also an executive at Blue Cross and Blue Shield. “He has huge support from the military and the business community, both of which are well-represented here. So as far as what you read in the liberal press, we don’t pay too much attention to that.
“We’re still looking to support candidates at all levels that are cut from the same bolt of cloth that the president and governor are. And we’re cautiously optimistic about generating the same kind of turnout.”
If betting again on Bush in Northeast Florida is a gamble, Hightower sees it as one with a pretty good track record. He points to a winning record at the polls dating back to Gov. Jeb Bush’s election in 1998.
Hightower doesn’t take much interest in media polls. He takes comfort in the fact that many of the same services predicted a closer 2004 presidential election than the one that materialized.
“The Republican National Committee and the Bush Organization are unique, second-to-none organizations when it comes to polling,” said Hightower. “All the negative stuff we were hearing on election morning was just contrary to what we were seeing in our numbers.”
Another number Hightower disregards: the Democrats statistical superiority in Duval County. The Supervisor of Elections reports 45,000 more County residents that call themselves Democrats than those registered to Hightower’s party.
Hightower expects that the president’s ideology will once again resonate with conservative Democrats and Independent voters.
“We know those voters are historically more aligned with the president and the governor, and we are building our strategy around those shared values,” he said.
The Republicans’ get out the vote campaign will cast a wide net, said Hightower.
“There are more Democrats than Republicans, but we want to reach out to those voters and reach out to Independents,” said Hightower. “We know they vote overwhelmingly Republican just like we do.”