The Political Whore

Two absolutely intriguing angles to the revelation that Gov. Charlie has hired Beth Date, the wife of Palm Beach Post capital bureau chief S.V. Date, as an analyst in his Office of Policy and Budget, as reported in The Buzz. (Yes, I know, we doubt that the Gov himself actually extended the job offer.)

First, of course, is the possibility that this would represent conflict of interest for the Post and its award-winning journalist and author. Post Managing Editor Bill Rose told The Buzz that Date won’t have a conflict “because ‘he won’t be covering that particular office,’ the budget unit that deals with health and human services.” (Rose hasn’t yet returned my-mail request to amplify that answer.) Partisans and MSM-haters (as well as some journalists, I’m sure) will jump all over that answer as questionable. Obviously, if Date starts a’slammin’ on the Gov, chances are it could make things uncomfortable for all parties involved.

Date is not the only Tallahassee scribe who has a spouse or family member on the government payroll. Most notable is Tallahassee Democrat political editor Bill Cotterell, whose wife is a longtime state worker. He writes to me:

Cindy was hired as a Career Service employee in 1984 by Bill Gunter, then insurance commissioner and treasurer. She was there through Democrat and Republican administrations (Tom Gallagher, Bill Nelson and Tom Gallagher again) now works for Bob Milligan, the former comptroller, whom Alex Sink brought in as insurance consumer advocate.

She’s no longer Career Service, as Jeb Bush’s “Service First” personnel initiatives moved her and 16,400 other employees into the Selected Exempt staff, but her duties didn’t change. She’s mostly a legislative analyst, examining bills and amendments for their impact on policies of her bosses.

I avoid covering all matters involving insurance and any personnel matters involving DFS. Other than that, we just don’t talk about work. She sometimes complains about things in the Democrat and I comment on what I think the Gallagher or Nelson campaigns were doing well or poorly, but we rarely discuss issues.

It will be interesting to see what level (if any) of transparency the Post will apply in letting its readers know about Mrs. Date’s new job. (I couldn’t find it on the Post’s website and asked about it in my e-mail to Rose.) And full disclosure here: My wife, Laura, is chairwoman of the state’s Board of Occupational Therapy, appointed by Jeb Bush. It is a volunteer job, but she does get paid a few hundred dollars a year for enforcing professional licensing requirements for her profession at quarterly meetings. I generally avoid writing about disciplinary hearings for O.T.’s.

More interesting in this whole story is the fact that Crist actually hired the wife of the one man his predecessor hates more than anyone in the entire world. Date clashed with Jeb! on numerous occasions and wrote Jeb: America’s Next Bush: His Florida Years and What They Mean for the Nation. In the foreword, Date proclaimed, “Jeb Bush is going to hate this book.” No doubt he did.

For those Kremlin-watchers who have been wondering just how distant Crist is from his fellow Republican predecessor, this should just about end any speculation.

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