Democrats critical of attorney general

Alex Sink, Democratic candidate for governor, told a hometown crowd of Tampa Democrats that her Republican opponent, Bill McCollum, needs to "wake up."

Citing the scandal over credit card abuse in the state Republican Party, Sink said McCollum, a Republican and the state attorney general, has neglected his duty in refusing to mount a criminal investigation.

That scandal was a popular subject at the event, the Hillsborough County Democratic Party's annual fundraising dinner, named the Kennedy- Graham Dinner.

"Thank goodness the Democratic Party's not built on credit cards," said Tampa's Democratic elder statesman, former U.S. Rep. Sam Gibbons. The scandal, he said, "shows carelessness and greed, which have long marked Republican rule."

Sink, of Thonotosassa, state chief financial officer, and McCollum, of Orlando, lead their party's primaries for governor.

Sink said McCollum has been negligent in failing to act against mortgage fraud that she said was rampant in Florida before the economic crash.

When she asked him about it two years ago, she said, "He turned around and he said, 'I don't think I have any power to do that.'

"Wake up, Bill McCollum, wake up," Sink said.

It was an unusually successful fundraising dinner for the Hillsborough Democratic Party - it sold out more than 310 tickets at a minimum $70 per person.

Besides Sink, the dinner drew Sen. Bill Nelson; Dan Gelber and Dave Aronberg, leading candidates for attorney general; Scott Maddox, leading Democratic candidate for agriculture commissioner; Kevin Burns, a dark horse candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate against U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek; plus the elder Democratic statesman of Tampa, former U.S. Rep. Sam Gibbons, who just turned 90.

Just back from Haiti, Nelson predicted that former President Bill Clinton will become head of a long-term, United Nations-sponsored redevelopment authority in Haiti. Clinton is now a special U.N. envoy charged with overseeing the U.N.'s aid mission. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week proposed the long-term effort.

"It's the only way" to try to solve the island nation's problems, Nelson said.

Nelson talked about Republican efforts to stalemate the Senate, drawing hisses when he mentioned hard-line conservative GOP Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina - who will be speaker at the Hillsborough County Republican Party fundraising dinner March 6.

Sink is clearly trying to take care of her Tampa Bay area base. Besides Saturday's speech, she'll be keynote speaker at the Pinellas County Democratic Party's annual fundraising dinner Feb. 27.