Van Sickle hangs a shingle

Erin Van Sickle, former communications director for the Republican Party of Florida, is teaming up with former legislator Jerry Paul and consultant Rob Wilson to launch a media consulting and public relations firm called Capitol Energy Communications.

"Erin knows Florida and understands how to craft the right message and deliver it effectively throughout this state, Wilson said.

Van Sickle is among several RPOF staffers who have left the party since the 2008 election. The state party is losing its top rainmaker, Gov. Charlie Crist, as he forgoes re-election to run for the U.S. Senate. 

Another GOP donor on the fence about McCollum

Add Miami developer Sergio Pino to the list of big-time Republican fundraisers for Gov. Charlie Crist in South Florida who may support Democrat Alex Sink for governor in 2010 or stay on the sidelines (i.e. Scott Rothstein, Manny Kadre, Rodney Barreto.)

"There's a chance I may support Alex Sink,'' Pino said. "I can't simply support Bill McCollum because he's a Republican."

But Pino added that a call from his good friend former Gov. Jeb Bush -- who is headlining a McCollum fundraiser tomorrow -- could change his mind.

Endorsements are for losers

Sigh. If only politicians set aside a fraction of the time they spend chasing and flaunting campaign endorsements for real work. The economy would be humming, the terrorists would be losing, and affordable health care would include weekly massage treatments.

But as we head into the dog days of summer, when most voters are paying closer attention to their cuticles than to elections, candidates have nothing better to do than fund-raise and name-drop.

At this early stage in the election cycle, endorsements are not directed at voters seeking assurance. They are for impressing donors, intimidating opponents and returning favors. Keep reading here.

Sink courts GOP, Hispanic voters in Miami

Jeb Bush for governor in 1998. Mel Martinez for Senate in 2004. Charlie Crist for governor in 2006.

These are a just a few of the Republican candidates who got the seal of approval from the Latin Builders Association in Miami and went on to win the election, said the group's president, Anthony Seijas. Today a Democrat will appear in front of the group: Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, who is running for governor in 2010.

In one of the most exciting moments in LBA political history, four of the Republican presidential candidates addressed the group back-to-back just four days before the 2008 primary. Martinez told the group that he was backing John McCain. Gov. Charlie Crist's endorsement soon followed and McCain went on to win the election.

"Once we support a candidate, we are very united and we get the word out,'' said Seijas, who noted that several of his 800 members run large companies. "In terms of going after the Hispanic vote in South Florida, this is an important event."

The group is officially non-partisan but leans Republican.

"More Republican candidates have sought to speak to us historically, but over the last couple of years, the face of our membership has changed with some younger members,'' Seijas said. "I think the
difference betwen the number of Democrats and Republicans has narrowed some."

Llorente pulls out of Senate race

State Rep. Marcelo Llorente is pulling out of a three-way Republican primary for the state Senate in 2010 and setting his sights on the Miami-Dade county mayor's office in 2012.

A press release said one of his Senate rivals, state Rep. David Rivera, will attend the official announcement tomorrow, but Llorente said he is not throwing his support behind Rivera. Rivera outraised Llorente $235,335 to $133,750 in the first three months of this year.

"I felt comfortable with where we were in the senate race,'' Llorente said. "At the end of the day, my decision was about wanting to spend more time with my children at home, not in Tallahassee.''

The third Republican in the race, state Rep. Anitere Flores, raised $9,025 through the end of March. A survey last week by Florida International University associate professor Dario Moreno showed Rivera beating Flores by a 2-1 margin. More than half of the voters were undecided. Moreno said Llorente was not included in the poll, which was conducted for a private client.

The Senate district is currently represented by Alex Villalobos, who said he had been planning to help Llorente take his seat.

McCollum channels McCain, Joe the Plumber

Bill McCollum, the Republican frontrunner for governor, sounded kind of like Republican presidential nominee John McCain in his "Joe the plumber'' days.

"Socialism failed in Europe and socialism will fail here,'' he told the Miami-Dade Republican Party tonight. "We believe in individual liberty, in opportunity, in free market, and growth. We believe in growing wealth, not resdistributing it."

McCollum awkwardly tried to sound bi-partisan and inclusive while defending the Republican party's basic philosophy.

"We'll invite everybody to participate in governing this state,'' he said. "We do not have all the best ideas sitting in this room tonight. Somebody else may have some great ideas. We've got to find those common grounds, but we will do it with our principles, from our vantage point, because we know that the way that we believe, and the way that we understand how the world works is the right way, the way forward, the way up, what I call a new way up for Florida."  

Welcome to Miami, Mr. McCollum

Tonight's Miami-Dade Republican Party dinner is a key opportunity for statewide candidates from outside South Florida to show their face in the state's largest county. Lobbyist and political consultant Richard Pinsky said about 30 percent of the voters in a GOP primary come from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

"Bill McCollum has got to spend a considerable amount of time down here,'' Pinsky said of the attorney general and GOP frontrunner for governor in 2010. "Even though he's a statewide officeholder, there's a big disconnect between politics down here and Tallahassee."

U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam of Bartow, who is running for agriculture commissioner, is also making the rounds at the Miami Airport Hilton. "I wouldn't miss it. Had to be here,'' he said.

Putnam is here with his campaign manager, Trey McCarley, who ran Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson's campaign.

McCollum has 'different view' than Crist on stimulus

Attorney General Bill McCollum, the Republican frontrunner for governor in 2010, said he would not have campaigned with President Barack Obama for his economic stimulus package like Gov. Charlie Crist did in Fort Myers in February.

"I have a different view about that,'' said McCollum in an interview before the Miami-Dade Republican Party's annual Lincoln Day dinner.

McCollum, a former congressman, said he would have voted against the plan had he been in Congress and would have opposed it had he been the governor. But once the legislation passed, "we needed to get our fair share,'' he said.

"I don't think it was good for the country to go into debt,'' he said. "I would not have embraced the stimulus before the fact, but if it passed over my objections, that's another story."

Rubio gets his moment on stage

Poor Marco Rubio. The underdog for U.S. Senate faces a mountain of institutionalized resistance from his own party as he challenges favored son Charlie Crist for the Republican nomination.

But not tomorrow night at the Miami-Dade County Republican Party's annual Lincoln Day Dinner. This one is on Rubio's turf, and he'll serve as the master of ceremonies. Gov. Crist wasn't even invited.

"We didn't invited any elected officials outside of the keynote speaker to attend,'' said state Rep. David Rivera, Rubio's close ally and the chairman of the local party.

The keynote speaker is Attorney General Bill McCollum, the Republican frontrunner for governor. Rivera said state Sen. Jeff Atwater of North Palm Beach, who is running for chief financial officer, and U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam of Bartow, a candididate for agriculture commissioner, also asked to attend.

Rubio hires hometown spokesman for Senate campaign

Former House Speaker Marco Rubio has tapped Miami-born Alex Burgos to be the spokesman and communications advisor for his U.S. Senate campaign.

Burgos has worked for the National Republican Congressional Committee, Mitt Romney's presidential campaign and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.