After a fourth-place finish in the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll on Friday, former Ruth's Chris CEO Craig Miller looked to play up his experience in the business community this week as he continues his bid for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012.
I have spent most of my adult life in the business world. While there are several significant differences between the business and political world, there is one crucial constant: leadership, Miller wrote in an email sent out to supporters on Tuesday. It has been said that a boss says go while a leader says lets go. Leadership is what enables a ships crew to stay calm and steer that ship through a storm, and leadership is what is going to enable this great country to weather our current challenges and come out as a stronger nation as a result. I have spent my life learning how to lead, and I am running to bring those skills to the U.S. Senate.
Stressing his years in the private sector and service as a staff sergeant in the Air Force in Vietnam, Miller had tried out that theme in a speech at the CPAC event on Friday in Orlando. In a straw poll held there, Miller garnered 12 percent, putting him in last place, trailing three other Republicans looking to challenge Nelson: former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux and retired Army officer and businessman Mike McCalister.
While Hasner -- who won the straw poll -- and LeMieux have been attacking each other in recent weeks, Miller threw a jab of his own at the CPAC event when he contrasted his background with those of his Republican rivals.
While Miller praised his primary opponents as three fine Republican conservatives, he insisted they are two career politicians and a professor while he was a businessman and not a politician.
Miller is based out of Central Florida. In the 2010 election cycle, he ran in the Republican primary to challenge the Democratic incumbent, then-U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas. He placed third in a crowded Republican field, a percentage point behind Sandy Adams, who went on to win the nomination and defeat Kosmas in November.
Taking a page from Bob Graham, who was on center stage for decades in Florida politics as a two-term governor and three terms in the U.S. Senate, Miller has held three workday events so far in the campaign. The most recent event was on Saturday in Daytona Beach at Bruce Rossmeyer's Daytona Harley-Davidson where Miller worked in the service department. He has vowed to hold two workday events every month during the campaign and has promised to keep a similar schedule if elected.
As a biker myself, I was excited to work with Harleys and speak with other bikers, Miller said in a statement released by his team on Saturday night. What I heard from co-workers and consumers was not surprising. Just like all Floridians on Main Street, they wonder where the leadership is as our country continues down the wrong path. They've lost faith in career politicians and they know we need a new approach to job creation and economic growth. I'm confident that my life experience as a businessman and job creator prepares me to help fill the void and put America back on the right path.
Miller was in a minor motorcycle accident on Sunday, the day after his workday at the Harley dealership.
"This afternoon, I was involved in a single vehicle accident while on my motorcycle, Miller posted on his Facebook on Sunday morning. After riding for 40 years, this is the first time Ive been involved in a motorcycle accident and fortunately only have a few scrapes and bruises. I look forward to getting back on the trail as early as tomorrow evening.
By Tuesday, Miller was back, pushing his conservative ideas.
Lets go return our country back to the constitutional principles that it was founded on, Miller wrote supporters on Tuesday. Lets go take our schools back from the unions, and give our children the education they deserve. Lets go stop the flow of government handouts and put the American people back to work. Lets go take our country back.
According to a poll by Quinnipiac University released late last week, 58 percent of Republicans remain undecided about who they want to challenge Nelson. LeMieux led the pack with 17 percent followed by McCalister with 11 percent, and Hasner and Miller tied with 5 percent each.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
