Bob Novak posed an interesting question in his October 17 syndicated column: Why are John Kerry and Florida Democratic Senate candidate Betty Castor avoiding each other? Wrote Novak: "During a rally at Broward Community College last weekend, Kerry omitted former State Education Commissioner Castor's name as he called out local Democratic politicians. He ignored shouts of 'Betty Castor' from the audience and did not mention the Senate candidate's name at the rally until he accidentally ran across her son, Palm Beach County Prosecutor Frank Castor. Even then, Kerry stopped short of endorsing her."
Both the presidential and Senate races will come down to the wire in Florida-polls show both Bush and GOP Senate candidate Mel Martinez with slight leads-and so the Democratic candidates' aversion for one another is as yet an unsolved mystery of the 2004 campaign.