Worthington answers the call

So there we were Tuesday night, having a rather polite Chronicle candidate forum, when Commissioner Diana Finegan lobbed a rhetorical hand grenade.

Finegan, the District 2 incumbent, had been faring quite well with opponent Stacey Worthington. In the Chronicle’s format of questions first, followed by a three-minute closing, both clearly knew their stuff and offered differing views on a variety of issues. 

You know, normal. A poke here, a prod there. Nothing out of the ordinary.

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And then…it wasn’t.

Diana discussed some of her accomplishments, telling the audience that her priority in office is “putting you first.” Certainly makes sense.

“Putting you first is not making friends with out-of-town developers that come here with a lot of wealth, influence, and power.”

This time, she stopped for scattered applause. OK, good so far. We're all aboard the anti-developer train.

Then:

“Listening to you is not listening to Chamber representatives that bring forth all of these priorities that don’t match up with any of your priorities at all.”

Now. Two things to know. Today's screenshot from the Chronicle’s YouTube livestream video shows the exact moment Diana is stating, “...”Chamber representatives” in a rather accusatory tone directly at Stacey. 

Secondly, and this is the political geek in me, but that statement was met with scattered boos. It was the only negative reaction I heard all night. It's one thing to utter an anti-chamber statement in a roomful of anti-chamber Finegan supporters; it's entirely different in a mixed audience. Unforced error on her part? Possibly. At the very least, a tactical risk.

Before going to Stacey Worthington’s response, let me briefly reveal a little of the Cattle Dog chat we had a few weeks ago. I met with all five candidates individually, encouraging each to bring her best Tuesday night. These were some of the best conversations I’ve ever had with candidates.

With Stacey, I asked her to dig deep. I wanted to see what’s in her heart for Citrus County. Could she open up in such a vulnerable moment?

Answer: Yes, quite well.

She spoke after Diana. Stacey started off a normal speech with some personal background. 

“Protecting this community is the most important thing to me,” she said.

Then she paused. I could tell she was going off script. She looked up and talked to the audience.

“I didn’t plan to stand up here tonight and launch any personal attacks. All I can say is, I’m a member of the Chamber of Commerce. And so is my opponent.

“So, what does the Chamber of Commerce do? They put on the Strawberry Festival, we put on the Manatee Festival. You know that Christmas parade you like to take your kids to every single year? I love it too! It’s part of what makes Citrus County special. And, I am never going to apologize for supporting local business.”

Off the cuff, from the heart. This time, scattered applause. 

Stacey returned to her bullet points, but she had just scored big. The absolute best way to answer an attack like that is to hold firm. Not only did Stacey hold firm, but her fond portrayal of the Chamber of Commerce is far from the anti-community shadow group that the incumbent had just described moments ago.

I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve heard along these lines. The Chamber forum is Friday and Diana is not expected to attend. She has her reasons, which I’ll get into next week.

As for Stacey, she couldn’t have played that any better. Diana served her up a softball, and she smacked it out of the park.

— John Murphy, the Chronicle’s digital coordinator, did a splendid job as emcee. He pegged the crowd size at 400.

I’ll have more later in the week. Have a wonderful Wednesday, friends.

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