Republican Sen. Jim Scott of Fort Lauderdale, who was first elected in 1976, could not recall another governor who would show up unannounced in his Senate office. Democratic Sen. Skip Campbell of Fort Lauderdale, who was first elected in 1996, talked of how Bush spoke with Democrats who had different ideas. The results of Bush's efforts are impressive, even to those who disagree with him. A record tax cut, an unprecedented overhaul of education and a string of other wins would be a career for some governors. But legislators and voters have short memories.
Tougher challenges lie ahead.
No more focusing on a few issues and giving fuzzy responses to the rest. Yes and no will be the only answers coming from the governor's office on the first floor of the Capitol. The governor has repeatedly indicated he will have a low tolerance for budget turkeys, the pet projects legislators stuff into the budget for their districts. Yet legislators have reacted to those warnings like teenagers testing the curfew set by their parents. They have jammed hundreds of millions of dollars in pet projects into the budget, from boat docks to an Orlando airline terminal.