During his 57 years in Congress, longtime U.S. Sen. Carl Hayden, R-Ariz., often related what a colleague in the U.S. House told him after he gave his maiden speech. If you want to get ahead here, you have to be a work horse and not a show horse, a congressman told Hayden and the Arizona Republican took that advice to heart.
The same advice applies in Tallahassee and theres no better example of it than Florida CFO Jeff Atwater. In the last five years, Atwater went from leading the state Senate to his current post and now is looking like a sure bet to run for the U.S. Senate in 2016 if U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., decides to run for president.
Atwater is no show horse but hes proven far more sure-footed than some of his colleagues in Florida politics over the last five years. His leadership in the Senate looks far better in retrospect as that chamber has grown increasingly factionalized. Flashier politicians have come and gone over the last five years but Atwater is a proven winner at the state level, easily besting his Democratic opponents in 2010 and 2014.
Focused on reducing regulations, eliminating fraud and waste and increasing transparency, Atwater doesnt always command attention even as he's championed fiscal conservatism in Tallahassee. But, as a Mason-Dixon poll released on Tuesday shows, voters generally back Atwater. Part of that comes from his efforts in Tallahassee. But part of that is the result of Atwaters outreach efforts.
Far more than most of Floridas leading elected officials, Atwater is often found on the campaign trail, supporting candidates and walking the district with them.
Atwater comes off as a happy warrior, enjoying his time on the stump and his interactions with crowds and voters. Never the most dynamic of speakers, Atwater makes up in earnestness and sincerity what he lacks in pizazz. Some of Atwaters best moments over the last five years have, surprisingly, come from his look backs on American history: his take on Abraham Lincolns leadership, his view of American innovation and his account of his father, a B-51 Mustang pilot during World War II, returning to Omaha Beach on the 50th anniversary of D-Day.
While his low-key style might not always win attention, Atwater can take some comfort in Florida history. Earnest, lower-profile politicians like former Gov. Reubin Askew, D-Fla., and former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., did just as well and sometimes bested larger than life ones like former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Lawton Chiles, D-Fla., and former Gov. Claude Kirk, R-Fla. Based on how well he did against Democrats in the Mason-Dixon poll, Atwaters steady conservatism should serve him well if he decides to run for the Senate in 2016.
By leading the Senate, which proved far less manageable after his departure, his two election wins and his record on fiscal issues, Atwater has proven to be one of the major, if far from the flashiest, political personalities in the Sunshine State over the last five years.
(Jeff Atwater is the second in a special anniversary series of 20 political personalities who loomed large since early 2010, when Sunshine State News set up shop in Tallahassee. To backtrack, read No. 20, Ted Yoho.)
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
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