McBride can count on banker with clout

She's Alex Sink, his wife, a former bank executive known for political activism, connections and fundraising skills.

By WES ALLISON, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 26, 2002

She chortled. "Of what state?"

"Of Florida," Bill McBride said.

Sink has long been one of those behind-the-scenes players whose money and Rolodex help get people elected. And she wasn't convinced of her husband's chances.

"Look, I'm a banker," she explained. "I've made my whole career trying to avoid risk, not making bad loans."

First McBride would have to beat Janet Reno, the former U.S. attorney general, to win the Democratic nomination. Then he would have to beat Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, a popular incumbent with a brother in the White House and more money in his campaign account than her husband could ever hope to raise. And McBride had never run for office.

"It's almost impossible to beat an incumbent anything," she recalled telling him. "I had to decide whether or not I thought (Bush) was beatable. I wasn't interested in going at it as a kamikaze routine."

The political wife's usual place is by her husband's side. Often she is given soft, noncontroversial issues such as reading or prenatal care to talk about. But her main job is to smooth his rough edges. To make him more likable.

Alex Sink, 53, has a different assignment. In 26 years as a banking executive, she built an identity quite distinct from her husband's. Sink made her own wealth, developed her own network, kept her own last name. Two years ago, she retired as president of Bank of America's Florida operation.

She was even mentioned as a possible running mate for Democrat Buddy MacKay four years ago.

Sink has been politically active since the mid 1970s and is a major contributor to Emily's List, a national group that helps elect female Democrats. Already this political season, she has contributed $13,500 to candidates for federal office in Florida, Missouri, Delaware and elsewhere.

During the 2000 election, Sink gave at least $26,500 to candidates and political action committees, federal campaign records show. She gave at least $20,000 to Democratic candidates and causes in 1998, records show.

Now her husband is counting on her to add heft -- and dollars -- to his campaign. Unlike recent first ladies, Sink has her own political base. She hopes to pull female voters from Reno and business votes from Bush, as well as mine her contacts in South Florida, where she worked for five years.

Already Sink has campaigned from the Panhandle to Palm Beach, and the pace will increase over the summer. She has organized fundraisers in Key West, Miami, Broward and Tampa, and she happily jabs at Jeb. She helps McBride be in two places at once, and she's a political weapon neither of his top competitors has: Reno never married, and Mrs. Bush has avoided the spotlight.

Sink's own political aspirations have long been fodder for speculation among Florida Democrats.

"And I'm obviously interested in good government and politics and being involved in the process, but in order to run for office you have to have a fire in the belly," she said. "And up to now I haven't felt the fire in the belly."

Adelaide 'Alex' Sink was raised on a large tobacco farm in Mount Airy, N.C., the model for the TV town of Mayberry. She retains a honey-sweet accent. Her political ideals were molded by her mother, Adelaide Bunker Sink, who ran the local chapter of Democratic Women.

Sink graduated in 1970 from Wake Forest University, a Baptist school in Winston-Salem that prohibited dancing and dozed through the turmoil of the late '60s. She married young and followed her husband to Africa, where he worked for Texaco. She taught school part time.

Back home, the National Organization for Women was gaining momentum and state legislatures were ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment. Opportunities for young women were expanding.

"I thought, gosh, I want to be a part of this," Sink said. "That's part of what drove me to get a divorce and come back. I didn't want to be sitting in Africa as a 23-year-old housewife."

She moved to Charlotte, N.C., and by 1974 was working in marketing for NCNB, the predecessor to NationsBank and Bank of America. She also got into politics and became president of the North Carolina chapter of the National Women's Political Caucus.

Her career bloomed, and Sink remained active in women's politics when she moved to Miami in 1984. That's also when a colleague introduced her to McBride, a lawyer with Holland & Knight.

On their first date, she was most impressed by McBride's work in New Hampshire for former Gov. Reubin Askew, who had considered running for president. Then McBride said he was heading to the Democratic National Convention.

"I said, "I've got to get this guy to take me to the convention in San Francisco with him.' That's every political junkie's dream," Sink recalled. "The next day, he invited me to San Francisco. I was hooked."

Janet Reno has near universal name recognition, a March St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald poll found. More than half of voters did not recognize Bill McBride's name.

Still, Sink tells voters her husband is the best hope Democrats have to beat Bush. "I totally believe," Sink said while flying back to Tampa after a 16-hour trip through South Florida.

She managed the campaign for the first three months, meeting each day with aides at home in Thonotosassa, 20 miles east of Tampa. She knew that McBride's leaving his job as head of Holland & Knight, the state's largest law firm, would be a financial hardship.

What finally convinced her that McBride's candidacy would not be a "kamikaze routine" was his doggedness and the encouragement the couple received in the Tampa Bay area, she said.

"What they advise you to do is go back and look over your Rolodex. You have to raise your first money from family and friends," she said. "We felt like we had a good base of contacts to start with."

Sink now travels one or two days a week for the campaign, usually with Ruth Wagner, a friend who took leave from her job as a lawyer to volunteer as Sink's aide. Sink is becoming accustomed to playing a supporting role to her husband, and she's learning that speaking for him doesn't always mean speaking for herself.

Their views are similar, but they sometimes differ. Sink, for example, favors more gun control than her husband, a former Marine. She also dismisses suggestions she would be co-governor.

But questions still come up.

In Jefferson County last week, Sink's guide was David W. Ward, the county property appraiser. As they toured Monticello and chatted with potential supporters, he said, "They're going to ask why you aren't running."

Ward introduced her to Sam Vanderslice, a longtime employee, and Sink mentioned her banking career.

"You retired from that to run for governor?" Vanderslice asked.

"My husband is running for governor," she corrected. "I'm helping him."

Adelaide 'Alex' Sink

Born: June 5, 1948, in Mount Airy, N.C.

Education: Graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in math, Wake Forest University, 1970.

Career: Held 16 positions over 26 years with what is now Bank of America. Retired in July 2000 after seven years as president of Florida operations.

Family: Husband, Bill McBride, Democratic candidate for governor; children, Bert, 14, and Lexie, 13.

Current civic activities: Board of trustees, Wake Forest University; board, Florida chapter, the Nature Conservancy; board of trustees, Republic Bank; board of trustees, Beth El Farm Workers Ministry in Wimauma.

Past civic activities: Chairman of the board, United Way of Hillsborough County; vice chairman, Florida TaxWatch; member, Task Force for the Recruitment and Retention of Florida Teachers.

Hobbies: Politics, exercise, crossword puzzles.

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