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ADAM C. SMITHRepublicans hope to set aside differences as they launch the Florida campaign for President Bush's re-election.
Republicans leaders who gathered last week in Tampa to kick off President Bush's re-election campaign in Florida presented a formidable united front.
Gov. Jeb Bush, every member of the state Cabinet and prominent legislators stood side by side promising to deliver the state's 27 electoral votes.
With its overwhelming domination of state government, the Florida GOP could hardly be better positioned to mount a powerhouse campaign in 2004.
But the party that rose to power by imposing fierce discipline no longer appears so adept at keeping its troops in line:
Democrat Bob Graham's potentially open U.S. Senate seat has drawn a crowded field of conservative Republican contenders who could bloody each other in the winner-take-all primary.
Key parts of the party's base are grumbling about assorted issues, from Christian conservatives angry that the state GOP's chairwoman is reaching out to gay Republicans, to Cuban-Americans livid about the White House sending 12 hijack suspects back to Cuba.
Tensions are rising as potential candidates position themselves for the 2006 governor's race.
The governor and Republican legislative leaders so bitterly battled earlier this year that some party officials worried it could dilute enthusiasm for next year's presidential campaign. They head into 2004 facing an uncertain economy, severe budget pressures and controversial issues, including a constitutional amendment requiring the state to reduce class sizes.
Republicans are still in firm control of Florida's political agenda and are rarely challenged by a weak state Democratic Party. But major ideological rifts remain, and Republicans hope to avoid the rancor that defined state government for much of 2003.
"The more acrimony, the more the rhetoric digresses, the more the story becomes effective governance and leadership," said state Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, who is line to become Senate president. "That ruminates among that key electorate, the political center, who don't have strong party affiliation and who really decide elections in Florida."
Lee and other Republican leaders now downplay the potential for division to damage President Bush's prospects in Florida. They say they see signs that GOP leaders are working to avoid a 2003 repeat through better communication.
"People don't really focus a lot on Tallahassee," Gov. Bush said. "The unity is strongly there. George has strong, strong support among the Republican base. It's phenomenal."
The Florida GOP in 2004 will be largely driven by the mighty Bush presidential campaign. Former state party chairman Al Cardenas has no concerns about how the party will fare next year. But in 2006 Republicans no longer will have the star power of a Bush at the top of the ticket.
"That will be a greater challenge than 2004, because you're going to have new faces," said Cardenas, now a lobbyist and top fundraiser for the president. "For the first time in a long time, people are going to have to step up and replace that Bush machine."
So far, some prominent Republicans are steering clear of the U.S. Senate race that could wind up with presidential candidate Bob Graham seeking re-election.
Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, Attorney General Charlie Crist and Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings are seen as potential or likely candidates to succeed Jeb Bush. U.S. Housing Secretary and former Orange County Chairman Mel Martinez also is expected to run for governor.
Supporters of potential candidates are quietly lining up supporters. Gov. Bush said he is backing no one, but many Republicans say they believe he leans toward Martinez.
The most visible tension exploded in Tallahassee this year in debates about medical malpractice reforms and the adequacy of state revenue sources.
Republican Senate leaders "have pushed for an agenda of more taxes, expanded gambling and basically, they believe that by building the size of government that somehow they can create a perfect world," House Speaker Johnnie Byrd of Plant City, a U.S. Senate candidate, told his hometown weekly newspaper, The Courier, this summer.
An aide to Gov. Bush was found to be discussing by e-mail the possibility of recruiting candidates to challenge Republican incumbents.
The governor called on voters to pressure Republican "wandering senators" who disagreed with his position on medical malpractice.
The public bickering has subsided, and party leaders are optimistic that it won't be repeated next year. The level of harmony in 2004 could be determined by the state's financial picture.
"Hopefully there will be some money," Gallagher said, "because that always helps."
But the increasing number of legislators who are creating their own fundraising committees is another sign that some top Republicans are no longer so confident the state GOP will represent their interests.
Palm Beach County Republican State Committeeman John Parsons would have no problem with Republicans trying to unseat fellow Republicans in the state Senate who seem receptive to raising taxes.
"The whole quandary right now is how do you get Republicans in the Senate to act like Republicans," said Parsons, who is also disillusioned by what he sees as lack of fiscal discipline by President Bush. "People aren't as excited about him as they used to be. The question is whether they're going to want to work as hard, put signs in their yard."
Republicans used to be able to clear a primary field to ensure full focus on the general election. That's no longer so easy, with term limits pushing people out of the Legislature and few high profile incumbent Democrats left.
"Primaries are the result of being the majority party," said Florida Republican Party Chairwoman Carole Jean Jordan.
As many as seven Republicans could wind up running for Graham's Senate seat. The nominal frontrunners are former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum of Longwood, House Speaker Byrd of Plant City, and state Sen. Daniel Webster of Winter Garden. Republican Pinellas County Commissioner Barbara Sheen Todd last week filed papers to start raising money for a potential campaign.
In 2000, party leaders pushed Gallagher out of the primary to clear a path for McCollum, who wound up losing the Republican seat to Democrat Bill Nelson. Party Chairwoman Jordan said she won't do that in the race for Graham's seat.
Jordan came into office this year after Jeb Bush's overwhelming defeat of Democrat Bill McBride. While the party raised more than $55-million in the last election cycle, she faced some financial concerns.
The party finished the last election cycle with a deficit of more than $2-million. An internal report in March said it "has created a number of problems for the party that requires resolution."
An internal finance report through July showed the party had cut the deficit to less than $600,000.
No one doubts the GOP's ability to raise big money, and Jordan said she has no doubts about Republicans working in unison as the next election approaches.
"We go with the Reagan theory that if you're with me 80 or 90 percent of the time," she said, "you're my friend."
- Adam C. Smith can be reached at 727 893-8241 or adam@sptimes.com