Sorry, Bud, there are viable political gimmicks–and then there are, well, gimmicks.
When U.S. Senate candidate Lawton Chiles walked the state in 1970–from the Panhandle to the Keys–he captivated the media and the electorate and defeated the favorite, Farris Bryant. And he was meeting folks other than the usual suspects.
Now his son, Lawton “Bud” Chiles III, is trying to walk in his father’s formidable footsteps by ambling across Florida in his independent campaign for governor.
But the walk is now a retread strategy, a pure gimmick. He needs to give it the boot. It’s also a reminder that junior is not his father. That hardly helps. “This Bud’s For You” would be more original.