The Sunny Side of Jeb

This ain't why they call it the Sunshine State:

Reporters Ejected from Gov. Jeb Bush Speech in Florida

Published: January 22, 2006 11:30 PM ET
NEW YORK Florida Republican Party officials on Saturday called security to eject reporters listening to Gov. Jeb Bush speak to several hundred party activists in Tallahassee. Reporters had been trying to listen through an open door.

Five hotel security staffers and a sheriff's deputy led reporters away from where they could hear the governor in the middle of a speech, according to a report by the St. Petersburg Times' political editor, Adam Smith.

"I apologize for that if I'm indirectly responsible, which I'm not," Bush said after addressing Republican activists. "I would have loved to have you in there. . . . I wouldn't have said anything different if you were there."

The party's executive director explained that party leaders merely wanted to keep their party functions private.