State: Former opponents stump for unity

MIAMI BEACH -- The red truck was parked outside the Sheraton Bal Harbour, where Janet Reno had booked the victory party that never happened, and any hint of her yearlong campaign was gone: The Reno for Governor stickers on the bumper, the poster in the back window, the handmade cedar sign her brother had mounted in the truck bed.

Inside the hotel's banquet hall, Reno clasped hands with Bill McBride, who came from way behind to win the Democratic nomination for governor, and asked her supporters to work to help him defeat Republican Gov. Jeb Bush in November.

It was a rally to urge unity for the Democratic Party after last Tuesday's primary election. State Sen. Daryl Jones of Miami, who finished a distant third, joined them, too.

Reno said she has known McBride since 1971, and that he has always been committed to public service, and that he would be a wonderful governor.

"He is going to make us proud," Reno said. "This is a man who cares, that really has followed through, and now seeks to serve the people of our state."

Jones said McBride would "work his butt off," and he promised to do the same for him. "I'm going to be out there swinging every single day, doing everything I possibly can," he said.

They left the stage to the soul classic Love Train.

"I think right now the Democratic Party will be as united as we've ever been," McBride told the cheering crowd. "

About 200 local politicians and Democratic activists attended. It was the last stop on a two-day statewide tour to introduce McBride's new running mate, state Sen. Tom Rossin of Royal Palm Beach.

McBride called Reno an inspiration and his hero, and lauded Jones's intelligence, skills and work in the Legislature.

Many, but not all, of Reno's top lieutenants from Broward and Miami-Dade were there, as were the Reno and Jones campaign staffs. Many predicted that their endorsements would deliver the support McBride will need in South Florida, where he was weakest in Tuesday's primary.

"All he needs to do is follow along in her footsteps," said Alan Morely, a member of the Miami-Dade Community Council.

Others weren't so sure.

In the election, Reno won nearly 7 out of every 10 votes cast in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, which have by far the state's largest concentration of Democratic voters.

Reno, Miami-Dade state attorney for 15 years before becoming the U.S. attorney general, had overwhelming support there among African-Americans and seniors, and McBride can't take their votes for granted.

"The political argument is we have nowhere else to go," John Coleman, Reno's top organizer in Broward County, said at Thursday's rally. "But we do have somewhere to go, and that's nowhere. The passion people had for Janet Reno ... is not there for Bill McBride yet."

McBride left Miami for a closed-door meeting in Tampa with about 100 Florida fundraisers. Another 20 or so joined by speaker phone. The McBride campaign laid out its strategy for beating Bush in November, and it figures it will need about $10-million.

All in the next six weeks.

"We do have legitimate momentum. We've got a party that's together," McBride told the crowd. "It'll take us a week or so; we'll be ahead of schedule, and we'll be out there.

"We do need enough money to put our positive message to go against (Bush's) negative message."

Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, attended the meeting and said McBride can count on help from Democrats across the country because McBride has a legitimate chance of beating Bush.

Beating the governor would go a long way toward a Democratic victory against President Bush in 2004, he added. "I can't express to you the importance of winning here in Florida."

McBride plans to spend most of today calling supporters. At 5:30 p.m. he is scheduled to attend another unity rally with U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, in Tampa's Ybor City.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk