Bob Graham

By Nick Anderson

June 29, 2003 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

MIAMI LAKES, Fla. —

Since his first run for public office in 1966, Bob Graham has been unbeatable in Florida. He’s been a state legislator, a two-term governor and now a U.S. senator for 16 years and counting.

His resume, his sun-creased face, even his offbeat neckties with Florida-inspired patterns have made Graham a walking emblem of a state seen as crucial to Democratic hopes of winning the White House. But although the party craves Florida’s 27 electoral votes, time and again its presidential nominees have shied from elevating Graham onto the national political stage.

Each of the last three Democratic nominees -- Michael S. Dukakis, Bill Clinton and Al Gore -- considered Graham as a running mate. All passed on him.

The latest near miss, a fateful turn in light of George W. Bush’s overtime victory in Florida, still rankles Graham’s friends and family. They believe their man would have given Democrats a convincing win -- no recounts, no lawsuits, no hanging chads -- in the state that decided the 2000 election.

“If Al Gore had picked my dad to be vice president, Al Gore would be president right now,” said Gwen Logan, the eldest of Graham’s four children, all daughters.

Now it is Graham who is running for president, offering himself as a seasoned lawmaker with executive credentials, an expert on national security and terrorism, a centrist who tilts to the left on issues important to core Democratic constituencies.

But his political vulnerabilities also are being exposed as he labors to prove that he belongs in the first rank among nine candidates in the Democratic race.

Despite his enduring popularity in Florida, Graham must struggle to build even minimal name recognition in other states. He is the oldest candidate, at 66, and weathered major heart surgery this year. His speeches often lack pizazz. And he is being questioned again, as he has been in the past, about his long-standing custom of keeping to-the-minute records of daily events -- trivial and significant -- in small, color-coded notebooks.

Graham and his allies say his notebooks help him stay organized in the hectic environment of the Capitol. But he also chronicles such minutiae as what he ate for breakfast and the length of airplane flights he takes.

Shortly after one recent news story described Graham’s habit as “obsessive,” his office announced it was reversing its pledge to make the notebooks available to reporters wanting to read them. “It’s time to move on,” said Graham spokesman Paul Anderson.

It also was the type of flap that didn’t help Graham overcome perceptions that he is a longshot candidate. One rival, Howard Dean, recently dismissed Graham as “not one of the top-tier candidates.”

The former Vermont governor later expressed regret for his comment. And the Graham camp said Dean should beware of underestimating the former governor of a state that dwarfs the one he comes from. One independent analyst agreed.

Graham “is a serious candidate until proven otherwise,” said Michael Barone, author of the Almanac of American Politics. “I can’t rule out [the] possibility that he’s going to catch fire.”

But in a sign that even Graham is hedging his bets, he has left the door open to a run for a fourth Senate term in 2004.

Graham has deep political roots in Florida. His father was a dairy farmer who represented a state Senate district near Miami (his mother was a schoolteacher).

Graham’s family also has strong Washington connections. His late half brother, Philip Graham, was publisher of the Washington Post from 1946 to 1961, and Philip’s son, Donald, is now the paper’s chairman. Graham calls his half nephew “Donny.”

After graduating from the University of Florida in 1959 and Harvard Law School in 1962, Graham became wealthy at a young age when he helped turn the old family dairy into what is now the small city of Miami Lakes. He and his wife of 44 years, Adele, live here in a modest two-story townhouse with a view of a man-made lake. They dote on 10 grandchildren, who call her “Deedle” and him “Doodle.”

As governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987, Graham oversaw a booming state economy that created more than 1 million jobs. He also dealt with the devastation caused by hurricanes and urban riots, as well as social problems caused by the massive influx of Cuban and Haitian refugees.

In Washington, Graham is widely viewed as a heavyweight on national security. He’s a former chairman of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee who helped lead a congressional inquiry into government missteps that preceded the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Rep. Porter J. Goss of Florida and Sen. Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, Republicans who teamed with Graham on the probe, are among those who praised his handling of the issue.

Graham was one of the 23 senators who opposed last fall’s congressional resolution that authorized President Bush to use force against Iraq, but his reasoning differed from that of many of the measure’s foes. He warned that overthrowing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s regime was not as important as pursuing a broader war against terrorism. He continues to assert that the war with Iraq was a distraction that diverted resources better used against terrorist cells in other countries.

Indeed, Graham comes across as more hawk than dove. He backed the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Last October, he sought to authorize military strikes against militant groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

On domestic issues, Graham oscillates between the centrist and liberal wings of his party. Graham the liberal backs abortion rights, gun control and affirmative action and voted against Bush’s tax cuts in 2001 and 2003.

Graham the centrist backs free trade and balanced budgets and would allow Bush tax cuts that have taken effect so far to stand. As governor, he reinstated Florida’s death penalty in 1979 over sharp protests and signed dozens of death warrants.

In making the case for his candidacy, he cites his Southern background as evidence of his “electability.” But at a recent gathering of the candidates in South Carolina, he showed little strength compared with rivals from other regions.

“That was a huge weekend,” said Joe Erwin, chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party. “So many of the other candidates’ teams were very well-organized. They had public displays of that organization. And Graham just kind of shows up and people are going, like, ‘Oh, is that Bob Graham?’ ”

Erwin’s conclusion: “Graham can still get into this game and be a factor, but he’s got a lot of catching up to do. He’s way behind right now.”

Graham blames that on his campaign’s late start.

While other Democrats were blitzing the country last year, the ongoing Sept. 11 inquiry forced Graham to wait. So did his health. In late January, surgeons replaced his aortic valve with one from a Holstein cow, performed a double-bypass procedure and plugged a pinpoint hole between the upper chambers of his heart. The surgery addressed a condition first identified in 1995.

Graham said that he feels healthier than ever and that the surgery cured a chronic shortness of breath. “Now they’re telling me my heart is better than it probably has been in a decade,” he said.

Keen to erase any doubts voters might harbor about choosing the oldest candidate in the Democratic field, Graham is seeking to project vigor. To that end, he is relying in part on a tactic that helped him win his first gubernatorial race in 1978: “workdays.”

Graham has done more than a year’s worth of workdays during his career. He has picked tomatoes, scaled fish, made Cuban sandwiches, paved asphalt and hauled garbage. In May, Graham put in his 387th workday in New Hampshire as a high school civics teacher, and his 388th in Iowa as a busboy.

He credits the practice with giving him “literally hundreds” of ideas to pursue as governor or senator, and showing him slices of life that politicians rarely glimpse from the dais, the lectern or the limousine. Before the workdays, he went by D. Robert Graham. Afterward, he was just plain Bob.

“Fundamentally, what they have meant to me is the chance to get close to people in the space and place where they work,” he said. “It gives you a storehouse of stories you can tell, and that helps you relate to an audience.”

Lately, Graham has been scouring his home state for cash in advance of Monday’s second-quarter deadline for reporting contributions. A strong showing, he knows, is needed to boost his presidential prospects.

One sunny weekend this month, he came back to Florida to raise money, skipping multi-candidate forums in Minnesota and Chicago.

As the flight from Washington landed in Miami, Graham checked his wristwatch and observed, with a chuckle, that the flight had lasted two hours, 19 minutes and 42.22 seconds. He rounded it to 2 hours, 20 minutes, and made an entry in his notebook.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Bob Graham

Born: Nov. 9, 1936, Coral Gables, Fla.

Parents: Ernest R. “Cap” Graham (mining engineer, dairy/cattleman, Florida

state senator); Hilda Simmons Graham (schoolteacher).

Education: University of Florida (B.A., 1959); Harvard University (J.D.,

1962).

Spouse: Adele Khoury Graham (married 1959).

Children: Gwen, 40; Cissy, 39; Suzanne, 35; Kendall, 34.

Residence: Miami Lakes, Fla.

Current job: U.S. senator (elected 1986, reelected 1992, 1998).

Previous jobs: Florida governor (1979-87); Florida state senator (1971-79);