LCYDs in the News

Democrat's homespun style wows 'em
Smith seeks primary win for governor

By Brendan Farrington
AP Political Writer
The Associated Press April 2, 2006

TALLAHASSEE · Cindy Satur changed parties when Ronald Reagan was president, switching from Democrat to Republican.But two weeks ago, the Port St. Lucie woman received a new voter registration card listing her as a Democrat again. The reason she switched back? Rod Smith.

She saw Smith and the other three major gubernatorial candidates speak in Orlando in January and was immediately impressed. "I felt that he offered more solutions and he didn't have the canned political response. I felt an honesty," said Satur.

She's a good example of why many people believe Smith, a state senator and former prosecutor from Alachua, can steal votes from Republicans and win the governor's seat -- if he can beat U.S. Rep. Jim Davis in the Democratic primary.

While Davis has the backing of Bob Graham, a former governor and U.S. senator, and Rhea Chiles, the wife of the late governor Lawton Chiles, Smith evokes the spirit of the popular Democrats. He has a folksy charm and an appeal that could win over some Republicans, conservative Democrats and independents who have supported Republican candidates in recent years.

"Smith reminds me of people like Bob Graham and Lawton Chiles and Reubin Askew," said Aubrey Jewett, a University of Central Florida political science professor, who watched Smith, Davis and Republicans Charlie Crist and Tom Gallagher at a Tallahassee event. "Just as sort of an image, the more the Democratic candidate can get people to think about earlier popular Democratic governors, the better chance they have to win."

Smith keeps pushing that message on his campaign stops. While speaking to Leon County Young Democrats this past week, Smith was asked how to stop rural north Florida Democrats from voting for Republicans."I don't know if I planted that question, but if I didn't, thank you," Smith said. He then went on to say people in his community trust him because of his law enforcement background and because he comes from a farming family.

And, as he often says, Republicans can't attack him on God and guns."I come from a part of the state where most folks have guns. They hunt. I've never had any real concerns about gun control until the vice president," Smith said, joking about Dick Cheney recently shooting a friend on a hunting trip.

Electability has been a campaign theme for Smith. He points out that there are still more Democrats than Republicans in Florida even if the GOP has won every statewide vote since U.S Sen. Bill Nelson's win in 2000.

"We have a 400,000-plus advantage in registered voters. Why aren't we winning?" Smith said. "We cannot lose if we hold our voters, but we've not been attracting independents, we've not been holding what some used to call the Reagan Democrat. There are a lot of blue collar workers who we lose over a lot of issues."

Satur knew nothing about Smith when he spoke alongside the other three candidates. Yet she was moved by what he had to say and how he said it, finding substance instead of a political rhetoric, she said.

"He represents the new Democrats, not so far left, not so liberal as they seem to be in the past," Satur said. "If there was an issue where he truly believed the Republican Party had a better solution or a better answer, that wouldn't bother him to support that.

Smith, though, has a long way to go if he wants to replace Gov. Jeb Bush, who can't seek re-election because of term limits. Davis has more money and, as a congressman from Tampa, is better known. He's also leading in polls, though most Democrats are still undecided.

Smith uses the underdog status to get crowds to warm up to him. He jokes about how he was introduced at one stop as Rod Stewart and at another a man named Smith forgot Smith's last name. Then there's his standing in the polls.

"The first time I saw a poll in this election they had me at 4 percent. That's the good news," Smith told one group. "The bad news: The margin of error was 5 percent."

The humor, combined with a rapid-fire, passionate delivery when discussing issues, has a way of winning people over. The same style worked well for him as a Gainesville area prosecutor, said Johnny Kearns, a public defender who faced Smith in many cases.

"I used to tease him that he was the reincarnation of Will Rogers because he talked like Will Rogers and he had those amusing anecdotes," Kearns said. "None of that stuff is prepared. Rod will assess a situation and he'll get on a roll and he's unbelievable. He's amazingly amusing and at the same time he has a point to all of his stories."

Before serving as a prosecutor, Smith worked as a labor lawyer representing unions. During that time he earned the respect of Peter Hurtgen, a Republican who was appointed by President Bush to serve as chairman of the National Labor Relations Board.

"I found him to be a very fine lawyer, very honorable, very trustworthy, reasonable and frankly an outstanding person as well," said Hurtgen, who now practices in California. "I can't frankly imagine a guy better suited as far as background and personal skill set to be a public official at high level."

Smith is very talkative and not afraid to speak off the top of his head about almost any subject. Smith, who like Rogers was born in Oklahoma, says his parents were both quiet people, so he had to supply both sides of the conversation. He also said growing up, his minister was the only public speaker he saw, so the style rubbed off.

"He definitely is loquacious. He's outgoing. He's quick with a smile and a joke. It is endearing," said Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres. "We always encourage him to talk slower, but it's his nature to get as much information out there as possible."

Smith also has a reputation of being able to work with Republicans. He helped then-Senate President Jim King, R-Jacksonville, negotiate a compromise on a law that placed caps on medical malpractice lawsuit awards. The Senate succeeded in pulling Bush and the House away from the lower limits they wanted. He also helped form a coalition that stopped the House and Bush from passing a law to intervene in the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case."

Sen. Smith has a good track record of working with Republicans in the Senate, in part because he's a conservative Democratic," said Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon. "He's the last of the north Florida conservative Democrats."
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel