Senator labors to get name known
Rod Smith is liked by Republicans, lobbyists and fellow Democrats. But to be governor will require getting known outside Tallahassee.
By ADAM C. SMITH
Published May 30, 2005
The most dangerous place for an ambitious Florida lawmaker? Try the 200 steps between the state Capitol and Clyde's & Costello's bar.
It's a path where lobbyists, legislative staffers and people you've never seen before slap you on the back, beam at your very presence and otherwise fawn over you. If you're state Sen. Rod Smith, one of the brightest bulbs in the Legislature, it's enough to make the governor's mansion look like the natural next step.
Except that beyond that tiny Tallahassee territory, almost nobody else knows you.
"The most humbling thing in the world is to put yourself in a poll and find out maybe 5 percent of the people know who the hell you are," said Tallahassee lobbyist Jim Krog, a Smith supporter and veteran campaign strategist. "And if your name is Smith, 3 percent of those people are probably confusing you with someone else."
So it is that Rod Smith, a former prosecutor with a courtroom swagger and a passing resemblance to Tommy Lee Jones, is standing in a lot of different living rooms these days trying to introduce himself to Florida Democrats.
"I'm a Baptist and I'm a Democrat. I'm sure I'm an imperfect example of both. But I'm not switching from neither," Smith quipped to 100 Democrats gathered in former Attorney General Bob Butterworth's living room in Hollywood.
"This race is going to be about who can win the whole state of Florida," he said, urging the crowd of mostly South Florida liberals to consider the importance of winning more rural Florida votes. "Throughout my life I have been able to convince the working families that the fight of the Democratic Party is the fight for their families. If we do that, we'll win again."
Smith faces a tough primary battle against U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa and former state Democratic Chairman Scott Maddox of Tallahassee. Vying for the Republican nomination are two opponents well known across the state, Attorney General Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher.
Though Smith is an obscure legislator, many Tallahassee insiders and battle-scarred Democratic politicos consider him their party's best hope for turning around its steady decline. Who better to fend off Republican attacks on Democrats as out of touch liberals than the man who put serial killer Danny Rolling on death row and who knows his way around a cattle ranch?
"He's very charismatic. And it's time the Democrats nominate somebody who's going to represent the mainstream," said Barney Bishop, president of Associated Industries of Florida. "He's a very strong general election candidate. His challenge is going to be getting past the left wing voters in the Democratic primary."
Bishop stressed that he was speaking for himself, not Associated Industries. Still, there may be only one thing more surprising than a statewide Democratic candidate winning the Republican-leaning industry group's "Champion for Business" award last year: that Smith could go on to win the top legislative award this year from its mortal enemy, the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers.
One of the top priorities of Gov. Jeb Bush, House Speaker Allan Bense and the business lobbyists - restricting the ability of crime victims to collect damages from a business where they are victimized - died in the final days of the legislative session after Smith launched a passionate speech against it.
It won't help him in the primary, but Smith is known in the Senate less as a Democratic leader than a Senate leader. Republicans come to him for help drafting bills, as Sen. Nancy Argenziano of Dunnellon did with the Jessica Lunsford Act, to increase sentences for sexual predators.
Smith's fingerprints are all over some of the toughest and/or most controversial issues of the past five years, even when he ultimately voted against the bills he played a central role in shaping. Last year, he was a leading supporter of restricting ballot initiatives. In trying to limit the scope of Gov. Bush's civil service revamp, he was a key negotiator in limiting civil service protections. He led the effort to improve funding for the local court systems. He helped thwart some of the most ambitious proposals on clamping down on medical malpractice and other lawsuits. "There have been a number of times when I've asked myself, "If you see a bill and it's a bad bill that's going to pass and you have a chance to make it better, is it better to fix the bill or just stand up and say no?,"' Smith said, explaining why, for instance he was closely involved in working through Gov. Bush's "Service First" civil service changes but ultimately opposed them.
Still, Smith has a load of votes that won't play well with liberal activists who tend to dominate Democratic primaries.
Last year the Florida League of Conservation Voters concluded that among 40 senators, he had the 39th worst environmental record. He voted to protect gun ranges from lawsuits, and this year he cosponsored a bill allowing people to shoot attackers in their homes or in public places. He voted for a bill that abortion rights advocates say could force some clinics to shut down.
And yet Stephanie Grutman, executive director of the state's Planned Parenthood affiliates, said Smith's efforts behind the scenes and on the Senate floor were crucial in dramatically improving the bill. His floor speech decrying a particularly controversial part won over enough Republicans to kill the provision.
"When you get him on your side, he can change the entire shape of legislation on the floor," said Grutman. "If it had not been for Sen. Smith's incredible oration on the floor, over half the clinics in Florida would no longer be able to provide (second trimester abortion) services."
Part of his effectiveness is his ability to work with Republicans. Former Senate President Jim King once urged Smith to switch parties. Smith's wife Dee Dee informed King that Smith would sleep alone if he did. And Senate President Tom Lee made Smith chairman of the Senate agriculture committee. Agribusinesses have been a major financial supporter.
"He's kind of the last of the North Florida Democrats who has the ability to reach across party aisles on some issues. He has more of the traditional southern values than most of the Democrats in the Senate," Lee said.
Not exactly the kind of ringing endorsement one wants in a Democratic primary.
"If he's a lot like Charlie Crist, then vote for Charlie Crist. If he's a lot like Tom Gallagher then vote for Tom Gallagher," said Miami lawyer Kirk Wagar, a top Democratic fundraiser backing Maddox, who argues Democrats need to stand stronger for their core beliefs.
Smith tells Democrats the way to win again is not to get bogged dow n on hot-button issues like abortion and gun control. Smarter to focus on broad issues that affect people's lives: better schools, better access to health care, safe streets and job creation.
"I have to tell you, I'm a fairly progun guy," he told one Democrat at Butterworth's house who questioned him on gun laws. "I know in Broward that doesn't sound as good as it does in my neck of the woods where everybody's a hunter."
Though he grew up and went to public schools in Palm Beach County, Smith is from Alachua in rural, north-central Florida. As a political base it offers neither big money nor big population.
But in the evolving electoral math of Florida, it's increasingly crucial territory. New Deal-era liberals are dying off and a growing number of strategists see their party badly needing to perform stronger among the moderate and conservative Democrats who dominate areas like Smith's district.
"He's the best person to keep North Florida Democrats voting Democrat," Butterworth said. "Rod Smith is the right man at this time for Florida. He knows how to get the entire state, conservatives and liberals, the right and the left, North Florida, South Florida, Central Florida, working together."
The last time Florida Democrats heard an I-can-win argument from a statewide candidate, they nominated Tampa lawyer Bill McBride, who went on to be badly beaten by Jeb Bush. This time some party activists are questioning whether they really need a candidate to fire up the Democratic base and whether a little-known legislator admired by many Republicans and lobbyists is the one to do it.
"We fired up our base about as much as it could be fired up last year, and John Kerry lost Florida by 400,000 votes," Smith responded. "We've got to fire up our base and expand it."
--Adam C. Smith can be reached at 727 893-8251 or adam@sptimes.com