 |
 |
I'm forwarding the following article about Janet Reno, found by Murray Charters. " Janet Reno: Ignoring the whispers" which appeared in the Baltimore Sun. It states in part, "... one of the biggest challenges facing Reno is preventing the campaign from becoming a referendum on her ability to do the job. She continues to face backstage whispers from some fellow Florida Democrats who, unable to dissuade her from running, hope she'll pull out before the September primary... Most of the current whispering concerns Reno's health. She announced six years ago that she had Parkinson's disease, and her trembling hands are a visible reminder of the neurological disorder." I think whether or not people agree with Reno's politics, as PWP we should support her right to run for public office and her right to be judged by the voters on her abilities, not on the fact that she has Parkinson's. I heard Congressman Lane Evans speak in Washington last summer and he was also subjected to similar cowardly and discriminatory whisper campaigns when he ran for reelection . I believe such attacks hurt all of us in the Parkinson's community, and add to the obstacles we face everyday - no matter what we are hoping to achieve. People like Janet Reno and Lane Evans who stand up to the "backstage whisperers" and other such critics deserve our thanks and our support. Linda ----- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Murray Charters" <[log in to unmask]> Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 02:05:36 -0800 Subject: Janet Reno: Ignoring the whispers FROM: Baltimore Sun Ignoring the whispers Campaign: Despite private criticism among Florida Democrats about her politics and health, Janet Reno pushes on in her run for governor. By Paul West Sun National Staff Originally published January 14, 2002 MIAMI -- Just before she stepped off with labor union marchers in Miami the other day, Janet Reno made a prediction about the Florida governor's contest. "It's going to be fun," she confidently told a supporter. So far, however, the former attorney general's campaign has been something less than a pleasure cruise. Over the private opposition of some leading Florida Democrats, reportedly including U.S. Sens. Bob Graham and Bill Nelson, Reno announced her decision to run in early September. Days later, the terrorist attacks halted partisan political activity. Reno was forced to lend her campaign $100,000, prompting questions about her fund-raising ability. She remains the clear front-runner to win the Democratic nomination to square off against Republican Gov. Jeb Bush. But early polls predict her losing to the president's brother in November. That could change if the state's hard-hit economy fails to bounce back by summer and voters take out their frustration on the governor. During these balmy January days, however, one of the biggest challenges facing Reno is preventing the campaign from becoming a referendum on her ability to do the job. She continues to face backstage whispers from some fellow Florida Democrats who, unable to dissuade her from running, hope she'll pull out before the September primary. Perhaps the anti-Reno faction should check with former officials of the Clinton White House, who had similar expectations that the stubbornly unmanageable attorney general would take a hint and quit. Instead, Reno held the post longer than any attorney general in a hundred years. Most of the current whispering concerns Reno's health. She announced six years ago that she had Parkinson's disease, and her trembling hands are a visible reminder of the neurological disorder. She says her doctors have assured her that the disease, which is incurable, would not prevent her from carrying out her duties as governor. Reno and her campaign are also playing up her love of kayaking, a strenuous pastime, and there are no signs that her health has deteriorated. But the condition can interfere with her ability to communicate with voters. At the recent Service Employees Union demonstration here, Reno was handed a portable microphone to address several hundred enthusiastic workers. She had great difficulty holding it close enough to pick up her words, even after she grabbed her wrist with her free hand in an unsuccessful attempt to steady it. "Now, sometimes my hand wobbles like this, like it's directing a drunken orchestra," she explained to the crowd, which had been watching the awkward display with concern. "But what I ell people is, a man signed the Declaration of Independence, turned to somebody and said, 'My hand may tremble, but my heart does not.'" To applause, Reno added, "My heart, my soul, everything that I have in me is dedicated to this state." The incident was one example of how adept the 63-year-old candidate has been at turning her weaknesses into strengths. To those who insist she's not electable, Reno has joked that she might have to get a lapel pin with three suitcases on it, as symbols of her political baggage: "One says Waco [the bloody raid she ordered on the Branch Davidian compound in Texas in 1993], one says Elian [the 6-year-old refugee she returned to Cuba in 1999] and one says Parkinson's." She heatedly rejects the suggestion that she's too liberal to attract the independent suburban and rural swing votes needed to win statewide. "Do you think it is really a liberal thing to return a little boy back to his daddy?" she says in a brief interview. Almost flaunting her lack of concern over the liberal tag, her first high-profile fund-raising event featured TV personality Rosie O'Donnell, whose vocal support for such causes as gun control have made her a lightning rod for conservative criticism. Grass-roots tour Reno is appealing to centrist voters by promoting her image as a tough-as-nails decision-maker in Washington and her folksy Florida roots. She plans a grass-roots tour of the state behind the wheel of her red 1999 Ford Ranger pickup truck (bought used), starting in the most conservative part of Florida. "I'm gonna start in the Panhandle and go east in the red truck and talk to people along the way," she says, to "tell them my hopes and dreams for Florida, which I think they share." Even Republicans regard Reno's truck as a brilliant campaign gimmick. It has prompted comparisons to the late Lawton Chiles' 1,033-mile walk across Florida in the 1970 Senate race, when he introduced himself to voters, earned a nickname (Walkin' Lawton) and launched a highly successful statewide career. Reno, by contrast, is already more recognizable than the man she is trying to unseat. As she marched through the downtown streets of her native Miami, heads turned as locals and out-of- state tourists alike pointed at the woman in the powder blue dress. At the same time, recent residents of the nation's fourth-most populous state might not be aware that Reno still lives in the largely un-air-conditioned house her mother built a half-century ago or that before becoming the nation's first female attorney general she served 15 years as state's attorney in Miami. Her last contested race, however, was in 1988, and her speaking style is at best a work in progress. As a campaigner, she's no glad-hander, though Reno seems to enjoy her celebrity. She willingly obliges requests for autographs and photographs, though she can also come across as distant and even shy when she enters a room. She is making character the basis of her candidacy, reminding voters of her reputation for integrity and independence. Her agenda calls for improving education and the environment, controlling growth and providing more health care to the state's large population of seniors. Her three Democratic rivals, Tampa attorney Bill McBride, state Sen. Daryl L. Jones of Miami and state Rep. Lois Frankel of West Palm Beach, are shying away from publicly attacking Reno and have no major differences with her on the issues. But privately, the opposition camps continue to raise questions about her electability and health, and admit they hope she'll stumble in the eight months leading up to the primary. That nasty whispering, warns a Democratic Party official, might be the biggest threat to Reno's chances. "Those Democrats who don't have the common sense to keep it above board are doing the Republicans' dirty work for them," says the official, who spoke on condition he not be identified. Democrats say Reno's main goal should be to focus on Gov. Bush's performance and on the struggling Florida economy. 'Get the vote out' Asked about her strategy for defeating the younger brother of a popular president, Reno says simply that she plans to "get the vote out," and points to the disputed Florida election in 2000. "If the votes that were gotten out in November of 2000 had been counted the way that the voters intended that they be counted, Al Gore would be president of the United States now," she says. "If we can get that vote out, we can be elected governor." Reno admits she doesn't know if the 2000 election is still an issue with Florida voters. Other politicians say that, except for Democratic diehards, most people have moved on, especially after Sept. 11. The attacks plunged tourism, the state's largest industry, to its lowest level in decades and pushed the jobless rate near a 10- year high. If the economy continues to falter, Reno might benefit from the same sour mood that elected another eccentric and improbable candidate for governor, Jesse Ventura, in Minnesota. For now, Reno is cautiously saying little about Bush, or anything else, while basking in the adulation of supporters such as Nicola Miller. The Kendall, Fla., resident applauded as Reno marched into Bayfront Park carrying a handwritten sign that read "Smaller Classes! Better Schools!" Miller, who lost her travel industry job the week after Sept. 11, says she "definitely" will back Reno's candidacy. That is, if the 30-year-old Jamaican-American doesn't leave Florida in the meantime. "I'm actually thinking about moving out of state" to find work, she says. Copyright © 2002, The Baltimore Sun http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-te.reno14jan14.story?coll=bal %2Dhome%2Dheadlines * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn