Gamble On Obama May Pay Off

TAMPA - In January 2007, about a dozen prominent Tampa Democrats gathered for lunch at the ritzy Palm Restaurant at the invitation of Miami lobbyist and businessman Chris Korge, the top Florida fundraiser for Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The goal was to make sure they were all onboard for the coming Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. One invitee, not surprisingly, was Frank Sanchez, a former Clinton administration official.

"Before I could even get my introduction out," Sanchez said, "one of the people there reminded me that I'd had two presidential appointments," implying he owed a debt of loyalty to the Clintons.

But Sanchez, long active in Democratic politics, was about to take the biggest gamble of his political life.

Despite his history with the Clintons, Sanchez signed up with Barack Obama's campaign a few days later.

At the time, it didn't look like a smart bet, and Sanchez had a lot riding on it.

Hillary Clinton was then the distant front-runner in the primary, and considered likely to be the next president. Leading state and local Democrats were lining up with her.

Obama was one of a pack of other candidates including John Edwards, all with roughly half her support in polls.

"More than one or two people told me what I was doing was foolish," Sanchez said. "I thought from then on, if I got to see the White House it would be from Pennsylvania Avenue."

Today, it seems Sanchez's gamble may have paid off.

Obama is now the primary front-runner, and Sanchez has the cachet of an early supporter, the best kind in the eyes of a politician.

Along with Miami lawyer Kirk Wagar, Obama's Florida finance chairman, Sanchez was one of the first two prominent Floridians to join up. He is now Obama's national Hispanic finance chairman and adviser on Latin America.

If Obama wins, Sanchez will be in the new president's inner circle, a candidate for an important administration post.

What made Sanchez go with Obama despite his history with the Clintons?

He doesn't deny a debt of loyalty, and said he agonized over his decision. "They gave me an opportunity to serve my country and I was grateful for that opportunity."

Sanchez said his decision was purely idealistic - that Obama's message of unity and depolarizing U.S. politics "captured my heart and my imagination."

One friend told him that "you need to be loyal to yourself first," he said.

Sanchez said calling the Clinton campaign and telling them he was backing Obama was "the hardest political call I've ever made." He knew the Clintons themselves would be aware of his decision, and weren't likely to be pleased.

An example of the kind of anger such situations can generate broke into the news two weeks ago. During a meeting of California supporters, Bill Clinton reportedly unleashed a tirade over the decision by former candidate Bill Richardson, also a former Clinton appointee, to back Obama.

Sanchez hasn't experienced any such reaction, but clearly his decision entailed risk. The displeasure of a sitting president can make a political career untenable.

"He certainly did make a leap of faith," said Ana Cruz, a friend of Sanchez and a local political consultant who is working for Clinton.

1st Political Gamble: Bob Graham

If his bet does pay off, it will be something of a reversal of fortune for Sanchez, a Tampa native whose political and business careers have hit setbacks recently.

His interest in politics came from his mother, Delia Sanchez, a well-known school social worker and active Democrat in Ybor City. As a child, he worked in the campaigns of local Democrats.

One was Pat Frank, former state legislator and now clerk of the circuit court for Hillsborough County, the candidate his mother was most devoted to - and who attended the Palm lunch and is one of Clinton's leading local supporters.

Sanchez took his first real political gamble in 1978 at age 18, as a University of Florida student.

That year, state Attorney General Bob Shevin was considered a shoo-in for the Democratic nomination for governor, and probably the governorship.

But Sanchez, after listening to the candidates while busing tables at a banquet and candidates forum in Gainesville, decided to back a little-known state senator running against Shevin - Bob Graham.

When Sanchez introduced himself, Graham wrote his name in one of the notepads he was later famous for carrying. Sanchez became a low-level campaign staff member and then transferred to Florida State University, staying there through law school, so he could work in Graham's administration.

After practicing law for a few years, he went to Harvard for a degree in public administration and began a career as a business mediator, consultant and political adviser, practicing largely in Central America.

In 1999, his Florida ties got him the break into government work he wanted. Former Lt. Gov. Buddy MacKay, who became Bill Clinton's envoy to Latin America after losing his 1998 race for governor, recruited Sanchez to work with him as a special assistant to the president.

In 2000, Sanchez moved up to a presidential appointment as an assistant secretary of transportation, responsible for international affairs and aviation.

But George W. Bush's defeat of Al Gore in 2000 ended Sanchez's chance of continuing as an administration official.

Running Against Iorio

Sanchez moved back to Tampa in 2001 and launched a campaign for mayor, rejecting suggestions to start lower with city council. With the backing of outgoing Mayor Dick Greco and Greco's business contacts, his prospects looked good.

But Sanchez then got hit with a sandbag. Pam Iorio, who had said she wasn't running, changed her mind and entered the race shortly before the March 2003 election. Boosted by a successful career as a county commissioner and elections supervisor, she won easily.

Sanchez went back to his former consulting business, but didn't find stability in the business world.

In May 2006, a group of local businessmen, including some backers from his mayoral race, made Sanchez head of Renaissance Steel, a new company making steel building products. "It was experiencing some challenges," he says. "I was recruited to see if we could turn it around."

Early this year, it was announced the company was being sold to another local steel construction products firm.

"It was not as successful as the investors would have liked to have seen it be," said former RV magnate Don Wallace, one of the investors. "I don't think anybody got the kind of return they would have wanted to get."

Sanchez recently joined a large, statewide law firm, Akerman Senterfitt, in lobbying and mediation, but may not be there long if Obama wins.

Meanwhile, his fundraising work in the Tampa Bay area appears successful. Even as Clinton outpaces Obama statewide, Obama has raised more money here.

Sanchez is still aiming for a future in government and politics, and his ties to Obama could provide the opportunity he missed in the 2003 mayoral race.

"My ambitions throughout my life have been about public service," he said. "That has to be a part of my life."