He's Obama's political muscle in Florida
A brassy Miami lawyer wrings $4.5-million from Floridians.
By ADAM C. SMITH, Times Staff Writer
Published December 26, 2007
MIAMI -- In any conversation of more than a few minutes, Barack Obama's top advocate in Florida is apt to bellow, "I'll kick your a--," become agonizingly corny about the greatness of America, make an off-color ethnic joke, and predict that Republicans will nominate John McCain "because he's like the last chick left in the bar."
Suffice to say, Miami lawyer Kirk Wagar, Obama's roguish Florida chairman, has not mastered the soaring rhetoric of the politics of hope.
But at 38, this cocky, born-again son of an arctic ship captain has emerged as one of the most important and courted Democratic players in America's biggest battleground state. Beneath Wagar's legendary political incorrectness is a ferociously loyal and idealistic champion who, not incidentally, can reel in reams of campaign checks.
"Lord knows I've spent enough time in cars, buses and planes with him the last eight years to have accumulated my list of Wagarisms. He's funny, he's tough, he's fun, he's relentless. He's cocky in the very best way,"said Sen. John Kerry, for whom Wagar raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and in 2004.
"He's just an unceasingly optimistic guy who doesn't know the meaning of the word 'quit,'" the 2004 Democratic nominee for president said. "In the darkest days before the Iowa caucuses, this guy was just a horse calling in every favor and chit he had to keep our doors open because he was absolutely convinced we were going to win."
This year it's Obama, whom Wagar describes as the most inspiring candidate America may ever see. He has helped Obama raise about $4.5-million out of Florida this year. Frank Sanchez, Obama's Tampa Bay area finance chairman, says Wagar has an inspiring, if unorthodox, leadership style.
"He has a level of sophistication about politics that is very, very high, and yet he can also talk to you like he just came out of a frat house," said Sanchez, a former Clinton administration official and Tampa mayoral candidate.
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http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/26/State/He_s_Obama_s_politica.shtml
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