—Excerpt from "The Golden Years ..."

I arrived for my appointment with Governor Askew in the Old Capitol. His office was dark and decorated quite differently from that of his predecessor, Governor Kirk. After about a 15-minute wait, his assistant said that the governor was ready to meet with me. After we shook hands, I started to sit down and then heard a thunderous bang—the governor had slammed his fist on his desk. He then shouted at me, "You should be ashamed of yourself getting tricked into voting that bill out of committee today!!!" I was more than stunned and stammered saying, "Why, Governor?" He proceeded to tell me all the things wrong with the bill and closed by pointing out that I had fallen into an old trap, as had many freshmen before me, by voting to appease a colleague, rather than voting my conscience. He told me how his (and, I hoped, still my) good friend, former representative Marshall Harris (D., Miami) had spoken so highly of me, and how the governor was hoping I could carry some of his important legislation that year. It was very unusual for a freshman to be given that privilege by a governor. I thought to myself, "I have blown this golden opportunity, and this was just my first committee meeting." When I left Askew’s office, my clothes were dripping wet from nervous perspiration.