State: McCollum's consistency attacked

"I'm a fellow who stands on principle. I believe firmly in what I say and mean what I say," the Republican congressman from Longwood repeatedly tells voters while questioning the consistency of his opponent, Democrat Bill Nelson.

"I don't just put my finger in the wind when I make a decision."

But as McCollum tries to soften his arch-conservative image, interest groups on all points of the political spectrum are questioning whether he's running away from his record or abandoning his core beliefs.

"This guy must put his finger in the air to see which way the political winds are blowing," said Andrea Lafferty of the Washington-based Traditional Values Coalition, which fights against abortion and gay rights. "I am very concerned about someone who purports to be this way or that way, and then acts differently. It speaks to his character."

Lafferty said she had a meeting in late July with McCollum, who told her that while he "needed to appease a certain constituency," he would never promote a gay rights agenda. Weeks later, McCollum began holding news conferences with gay activists to tout his support for a hate crimes bill. The bill gives stiffer sentences for violence committed because of a victim's race, religion or sexual orientation.

McCollum, best known for his high-profile role in trying to impeach President Clinton, finds himself on a precarious tightrope as he pitches his candidacy to voters outside his conservative Orlando-area district. In trying to appeal to swing voters with moderate rhetoric, he's facing accusations of hypocrisy from an array of interest groups picking apart his 20-year congressional record.

McCollum says he is consistent and that he makes every decision based on what's reasonable and what he gets passed in Congress. That he's being attacked from both the left and the right, he said, shows how independent and moderate he really is.

Nonetheless, his efforts to claim the moderate, middle ground are drawing him heat from all sides.

"He's turned his back on his principles," said Kristin Hansen of the conservative Family Research Council.

Gun Owners of America, an ardent gun rights group, is attacking his gun control record over the past 18 months, warning members in Florida that McCollum's voting is much like Democratic U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York. Meanwhile, Handgun Control Inc. is airing TV commercials painting McCollum as an opponent of common-sense gun laws.

The League of Conservation Voters is expected to weigh in on Florida's Senate race as early as next week, attacking McCollum even as he campaigns as "an environmentalist of the first order."

"He attempts to hide his record with a little green cover," the league's political director, Betsy Loyless said, referring to McCollum's touting his effort to have the Wekiva River designated an official "scenic river."

"On nearly three out of every four votes on important environmental protections, he's voted anti-environment," said Loyless.

On the stump, the law-and-order congressman from Longwood can sounded like a traditional Democrat, holding press events one day at a homeless shelter, another day at a black church and another day alongside gay rights leaders.

Rather than mention impeachment or his consistent anti-abortion record, McCollum preaches about the need for smaller class sizes and better pay for teachers. He says that consumers should be allowed to sue their HMOs, and that no one at a gun show should be allowed to buy a firearm without a criminal background check.

In Congress, he has been one of the most influential opponents of gun-control measures, including the Brady Bill requiring background checks and waiting periods for handgun purchases.

Last year, though, for the first time in his 20-year career, he endorsed waiting periods for gun purchases. His bill -- opposed by both the National Rifle Association, whichcalled it too far-reaching, and gun control advocates, who called it too weak -- required gun buyers to wait up to 72 hours for a background check before buying a gun at a gun show.

McCollum said that had nothing to do with his Senate race, and that common sense calls for ending the "gun show loophole," which allows people to buy guns without background checks. The proposal backed by Handgun Control, McCollum said, could have put all gun shows out of business.

The Bill Nelson campaign has 20 years of McCollum congressional votes to throw back at McCollum. When McCollum talks about the homeless, the Nelson campaign e-mails reporters assorted votes McCollum has taken against housing programs and housing assistance.

"He doesn't want to talk about it," Nelson, Florida's insurance commissioner, said of McCollum's record after a speaking appearance in Pinellas. "He is trying to remake himself into a raging moderate, but it's not working, and I'm not going to let him."

Meanwhile, McCollum rarely misses an opportunity to portray Nelson as a flip-flopper interested mainly in political expediency. He often notes how Nelson initially said he opposed repealing the estate tax as too expensive, and then changed his mind.

Nelson says higher budget surplus projections prompted the change.

The race has largely been a battle for the center, with Nelson painting McCollum as an right wing extremist and McCollum arguing that Nelson is a waffler and out of step with Connie Mack's mainstream, conservative philosophy.

McCollum maintains he hasn't compromised any of his ideals for his first statewide run. It's only that his record reflects not an ideologue, but a man who weighs every issue on its merits.

"My adversaries are trying to paint me as something I'm not," he said.

- Times Political Editor Tim Nickens contributed to this report.

In the middle

Bill McCollum's middle-ground message is drawing heat from all sides.

McCollum supports a hate crimes bill that gives stiffer sentences for violence committed because of a victim's race, religion or sexual orientation. The Traditional Values Coalition says he promised he wouldn't promote a gay rights agenda.

He supports a bill requiring gun buyers to wait up to 72 hours for a background check before buying a gun at a gun show. One group says that lately he's voted against gun owners' rights in Congress, while another group says he has an anti-gun control record.

He campaigns as "an environmentalist of the first order." Yet the League of Conservation Voters is expected to launch a campaign against him.

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Lucy Morgan

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