Thursday, February 5, 2009

Sink Tries to Stay Afloat in Politics

I recently had the chance to meet the State of Florida's Chief Financial Officer, Alex Sink, at a cocktail party. What does Florida's CFO do? The job is a cabinet level position and is responsible for managing the state’s $15 billion in Treasury funds, serving as the State Fire Marshal, overseeing workers’ compensation and the state’s risk management programs, licensing all insurance agents and investigating insurance fraud. Surprisingly, Florida is the only state to have this position.

The office largely goes unnoticed and and Sink is starting her campaign efforts for the 2010 election. She's got a basic website up but promises upgrades very soon. Sink sends out a weekly electronic newsletter on news of her office and currently had roughly 500,000 subscribers.

The social networking is a good idea as it's very challenging to get elected to a Statewide office. Florida has eleven media markets, so the cost of traditional advertising in each one adds up quite a bit. Sink estimates that she'll need at least $6,000,000 for her campaign. The fundraising is more difficult because the maximum contribution here is $500.

The CFO does have some attractive qualities that the state of the economy has really put in the spotlight. She's the former President of Bank of America. Having strong financial background in a state that has been hit hard by the housing crash isn't a bad thing. She's the only Democrat in Florida's cabinet. When asked about that situation, she replied by saying of her colleagues, "They're afraid of me."

It will be interesting to watch Sink's campaign and career. She's been mentioned for higher office, possibly even Governor, should the current Governor decide to run for the U.S. Senate.

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