Rubio draws crowds but not money for Senate race

Senate candidate Marco Rubio drew a capacity crowd of more than 300 people at a Hillsborough County Republican Party "Issues and Ideas" dinner Friday, showing his ability to wow the conservative base of his party.

That followed a similar crowd Thursday at a Christian conservative gathering in Hudson, in far northeastern Pasco County.

But at the same time that he's dazzling conservatives with charismatic rhetoric, Rubio's campaign is also showing strain -- from lackluster fundraising and the difficulty of challenging the state's most powerful politician, Gov. Charlie Crist. They're competing for the GOP nomination to replace Sen. Mel Martinez, who won't run for re-election next year.

Despite national attention to his campaign - including being introduced by an MSNBC host as "the GOP's Barack Obama" -- Rubio raised a disappointing $340,000, in the first full quarterly campaign finance reporting period, ending June 30. Crist pulled in $4.3 million.

This week, Rubio's campaign is losing its manager, Brian Seitchik, and fundraiser Anne Herberger, admired by inner-circle Republicans nationwide as a top political fundraiser

At the same time, he took a public relations hit when news broke that a supporter, Pinellas County surgeon and political activist David McKalip, had sent out a racist email with an image of Obama as an African witch doctor.

In an interview, Rubio played down the problems.

"We thought it was going to be one type of campaign, and when Charlie Crist entered, it became a different type of campaign," he said of the staff changes. Instead of a standard, media- and advertising-driven Florida campaign, he said, "This race is very grassroots intensive, very ground up. It requires a different set-up and a formula for victory."

But he acknowledged the reasons included "budgetary reasons."

Concerning McKalip, Rubio said, "He made a mistake and he apologized for it, and I think that was the right thing to do."

Asked whether McKalip would remain involved in his campaign, Rubio said, "Well I want him to vote for me ... He's a supporter, but he doesn't work for me."

Herberger said Friday she'll remain a volunteer financial consultant and strongly supports Rubio, but is leaving because of "differences in strategy," and to save the campaign money.

"In my view, I didn't have enough time" to build fundraising success," she said.

Seitchik said he too "absolutely" continues to support Rubio and will continue advising the campaign on a volunteer basis.

Rubio will bring in Pat Shortridge, a long-time GOP campaign operative and staffer for Dick Armey, former House majority leader and head of a rightist advocacy group, as senior consultant. Armey has endorsed Rubio in the primary.

Rubio's supporters acknowledge they're taking on the power of the Republican Party and the business establishment that supports it.

"Are you folks ready for a rebellion?" asked Rubio supporter Dan Rawlerson, introducing him at the party dinner.

Rubio then noted, "From all traditional measures, I shouldn't be in this race - you don't run against a sitting governor in your own party."

His speech concentrated on entrepreneurship in business as the key to American prosperity, and blasted Obama's stimulus plan for turning over the economy to the government.

The son of a Cuban immigrant family, Rubio said it's a mistake for the party to change its principles in an attempt to appeal to minorities, particularly Hispanics. Their main concern is "to leave their children better off than they are."