Backroom Briefing: Eye of the storm

By BRANDON LARRABEE
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, August 27, 2015..........Even without Tropical Storm Erika --- which could begin affecting Florida on Sunday and strengthen to a hurricane by Monday --- the churning storms of the Atlantic and Florida's unique place as a peninsula jutting into the water were bound to be a topic of political conversation.

The nation this week is marking the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's infamous landfall along the Gulf Coast (the storm passed through Florida first), and former Gov. Jeb Bush released a chapter of his email-laden memoir dealing with the 2004 hurricane season. That was the year that saw four of the 13 costliest Atlantic Ocean storms in history --- Ivan, Charley, Frances and Jeanne --- hit Florida in the space of about six weeks.

Bush's memoir can show the political advantages, such as they are, of dealing competently with the fallout from a storm. In little more than a month, the governor's approval ratings in the Quinnipiac University poll went from 45 percent before the first storm made landfall to 62 percent on Sept. 23.

To an extent, Bush is clearly hoping that the latest batch of emails will allow his presidential campaign to bask in the reflected glow of his 2004 stewardship --- and perhaps ward off memories of his brother's initial mishandling of Katrina a year later.

Of course, any governor would rather avoid natural disasters plaguing the state. But Bush's performance in 2004 won over even some of those who were not inclined to like him.

"I have to be perfectly honest and tell you upfront that I have never been a great fan of yours, but your leadership during this hurricane season has been EXACTLY what Floridians need," wrote Barbara Czipri, a self-described Democrat, in one of the emails released with Bush's latest chapter. "Every day when I see you at the 9 a.m. conference on TV, I wish that I could reach through the screen to give you a BIG hug. I'm sure you could use a lot of them about now."

Bush's new reflections in the chapter are sparing. The emails he sent and received, as well as an excerpt of a speech he made, account for most of the text. But even after ticking off some numbers about the storms and their impacts, the wonky Bush gets back to emotion.

"As any Floridian would tell you, though, it is not the statistics we remembered at the end of the day but the stories of courage, generosity, and perseverance," he writes.

Flash forward to this week, as Gov. Rick Scott deals with Erika. Scott cut short a visit to Colorado to return to Florida, heading to the emergency-operations center in Tallahassee for a briefing and to speak to reporters, and by extension, to the state.

The governor's numbers have been improving recently. According to Quinnipiac, 45 percent of voters approve of the way Scott has been handling the job, compared to 44 percent who do not. Peter Brown, assistant director of the poll, called it "his best approval rating ever."

And now, Scott is dealing with a storm. He hit the usual talking points --- stressing the need for Floridians to be prepared and naming the websites that can help them do so. Scott took a bit of a ding for not having the traditional sign-language interpreter on hand. But overall, he seemed confident that he was ready for the storm, pointing out that he was the head of a hospital company when Hurricane Andrew struck Florida in 1992.

"We had hospitals basically completely demolished. I had 500 employees without homes. ... We got our hospitals back open and we did a good job," Scott said.

Whether he does so again, with Erika or with the next storm to come along, could decide whether Floridians continue warming up to their once-unpopular chief executive.

LONG LIVE THE KING (MAYBE)

Stuart Republican Joe Negron's declaration of victory in the race for the Senate presidency following next year's elections might or might not be premature --- his rival, Clearwater Republican Jack Latvala, certainly thinks it is --- but the road to leadership can be treacherous.

Former Sen. Alex Villalobos was once thought to be on track to lead the chamber, but lost support more than two years ahead of time for bucking Bush and was never able to gain it back. Current Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, had to sweat out a coup attempt led in part by Negron. Gardiner fought it off largely because of the support of Latvala.

Even being designated the leader can be tricky. Former House Speaker Ray Sansom left the job before his first full session when he faced corruption charges --- of which he was later cleared --- and former Rep. Chris Dorworth neglected to win re-election in 2014, paving the way for current Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, to assume office.

TWEET OF THE WEEK: "CAN THE FL LEG BE TRUSTED TO GO ANY FURTHER? NO. THEY NEED A LONG REST FROM ANY POLITICS OR BUSINESS OF THE BODY. THEY ARE STRESSED OUT."---Capitol gadfly Brian Pitts (@justice2jesus), in an apparent response to the collapse of last week's redistricting special session. In another tweet, he pleaded for "NO MORE SESSIONS."