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Dark horses struggling to raise funds for U.S. Senate seat in FL
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Kevin Burns and Bob Smith are two very dramatically different politicians and yet both these candidates for the open U.S. Senate seat in Florida are in the same boat as they struggle to raise funds and garner attention.
Democrat Kevin Burns, who served as mayor of North Miami, has raised $20,000 for his Senate campaign but this is a fraction of the $3 million raised by front-runner Rep. Kendrick Meek. While the Burns campaign has set up a website that stresses the candidate's work on education during his mayoral terms, the campaign has not received much attention from the media. In fact, one of the few recent stories mentioning Burns focuses on how a North Miami Lexus dealership set up a spa for its customers. Burns had reservations about the spa in the car dealership but now is pleased about how this has generated 350 jobs.
While not ignoring the fact that Burns has simply not done well in terms of raising money, the media should give the dark horse a bit more attention. Burns has some interesting ideas, especially on the environment and the importance of local governance. Surprisingly Burns' sexual orientation has not received much notice. While Gov. Charley Johns, a politician from Starke who made a career out of bashing homosexuals, would be turning in his grave, perhaps the lack of attention on Burns' lifestyle reveals that this is not a concern for many voters in the Sunshine State. Burns is also veering sharply from the usual path of political power. Burns was a leading figure in the U.S. Conference of Mayors but instead of running for the U.S. House seat left open by Meek's Senate campaign, he has chosen the riskier move.
During his almost two decades representing New Hampshire in the U.S. House and Senate, Bob Smith earned a reputation as being one of the most conservative politicians on the national stage. Smith even left the Republican Party during a brief presidential bid in 1999 since the GOP was not conservative enough for his tastes. During his years in the Senate, Smith worked on a number of important issues for Florida voters including protecting the Everglades and keeping Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez in the United States. After Smith lost his Senate seat in the 2002 elections, he headed to Sarasota to work in real estate. While he kicked around running for the Senate in 2004, Smith held off but he continued to be involved in politics and, in 2008, backed conservative Congressman Duncan Hunter for the GOP presidential nomination.
Like Burns, Smith has not done well in raising funds. Smith has raised less than $20,000 so far and, while there were some articles when he first jumped in the race, his campaign has gotten little press. Smith's total pales in comparison to GOP front-runner Gov. Charlie Crist's impressive total of over $4.3 million raised so far. Smith continues to stress his conservatism and is a vocal critic of the various federal stimulus packages and remains a staunch opponent of illegal immigration, abortion, and gun control.
Both Burns and Smith have the opportunity to appeal to the base of their respective party. If Congresswoman Corrine Brown opts out of the Senate race (as seems increasingly likely), Burns might find room to run to Meek's left. Smith certainly is closer to key conservatives voting in the GOP primary than Crist is but, with former state House Speaker Marco Rubio in the race, he may not have much room. While rumors continue to circulate that Rubio will abandon the Senate race due to his problems raising funds, now that Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp has announced for state Attorney General, Rubio's other political options besides a Senate campaign are running out. But while Burns and Smith might appeal to the base of their parties, they are going to have to raise more funds and gain more attention than they have so far if they want to make a serious impact in this Senate race.
