Early in the election season, Democrats saw U.S. House District 8 as a seat that could be taken from its Republican incumbent, Ric Keller.
But those notions appear to be wilting as Election Day draws close.
In the weeks leading up to Nov. 7, Democratic challenger Charlie Stuart never rolled out a major TV ad campaign — something considered vital in a Republican-leaning district that stretches from Celebration in Osceola County through Orlando and Orange, Lake and Marion counties.
Political analysts say the race is safely Keller’s, unless a throw-the-bums-out, anti-incumbent wave rolls across the nation.
That wave is still possible, with the Republican-led Congress’ ratings at the lowest point since 1992 — only 16 percent approval, according to a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
But David E. Johnson, a political analyst with Strategic Vision LLC, said that Stuart can’t bank on an anti-incumbent wave.
“What Stuart needs is the angry voter, and the voters are angry,” he said. “But the problem is that they’re angry at both parties.”
Nonetheless, Stuart, who describes himself as a moderate, anti-abortion Democrat, is giving Keller his first real fight for office in years.
The two have traded barbs, with Keller calling Stuart a tax-and-spend Democrat with no experience. Stuart has blasted Keller as an empty suit with little to show for his six years in office.
Another Central Florida House race drawing attention is incumbent Tom Feeney’s campaign for U.S. House District 24. But it’s not because of a fierce fight over the issues among hopeful public servants. Instead, the campaign has been nothing short of odd.
Feeney, R-Oviedo, has refused debates and is brutally mocking his Democratic opponent Clint Curtis of Titusville, calling him “crazy.”
Feeney’s campaign has an Internet Web site with faked photos of Curtis wearing tinfoil hats, and it includes UFOs and a singing cat. Curtis has floated conspiracy theories involving Feeney concerning campaign rigging and other misdeeds.
In the District 8 race, Keller and Stuart diverge on taxes, with Keller in favor of making President Bush’s 2003 tax cuts permanent — a move that Stuart opposes.
Stuart also is calling for taxes of $1 a barrel on oil and 1 cent a gallon on gasoline to fund research for alternative energy sources.
Both Keller and Stuart call for developing such technology, but Stuart criticizes Congress for not funding such programs. Keller says that Stuart’s plan will drive up fuel prices again.
On the Iraq war, Stuart wants the Bush administration to have clear benchmarks of what the Iraqi government needs to accomplish for the United States to leave. He also wants to enlist 100,000 more full-time soldiers so reservists and the National Guard can return home.
Keller avoids debate over why the United States is in Iraq in the first place and focuses on the soldiers, saying that they need continued U.S. support and that they want to “finish the job.”
On immigration, Keller calls for the building of a 700-mile-long fence along the Mexican border. He also supports legislation that would make anyone who helps an illegal immigrant a felon.
Stuart says that a fence is a waste of money because people will just go over, under or through it.
The billions of dollars could be better spent beefing up port security, he said. He also said that arresting millions of illegal immigrants would damage the economy and is not the most urgent crisis facing the nation.
A third name will be on the District 8 ballot. He is urban planner Wesley Hoaglund 52, running as an unaffiliated candidate. He is a registered Democrat and is running a self-funded campaign that has drawn scant attention.
