solve their problems." In 1993, Hugh Rodham and his brother Tony ignited a small controversy when they tried to solicit corporate donations for Clinton's inaugural parties; they dropped the effort after a public outcry. Once the Clintons entered the White House, Rodham became a sometime golfing buddy of the President and he and Maria often joined family get-togethers at Camp David. When Clinton was having trouble with his cabinet nominations, Rodham recommended Reno to the president for appointment as U.S. Attorney General. Run for U.S. Senate Rodham left the public defenders office to run for the United States Senate in Florida in 1994. He had some basic problems as a candidate, including having to explain why he had never registered to vote in the state until 1992. In addition, his campaign manager left the campaign after not getting paid for weeks when told there was no money but discovered that funds were in the account he actually set up. Rodham did not always demonstrate a deep understanding of the political issues of the day and had difficulty being taken seriously by political commentators. In the contest for the Democratic Party nomination, Rodham competed in a four-person primary field and finished first with 34 percent, which meant there would be a runoff election. After the first primary, the third-place finisher, Miami lawyer Ellis Rubin, joined forces with Rodham as a "senior executive consultant" and hatchet man. The second-place finisher and other entrant in the runoff was Mike Wiley, a talk radio personality and advocate of UFO conspiracy theories. In the presence of Rodham at a press conference, Rubin leveled the accusation that Wiley was hiding his Jewish faith by changing his name from his birth name, Michael Schreiber, and that Wiley "changed his name before the campaign to deceive voters about his Jewish religion." Rodham won the runoff contest by a margin of 58 to 42 percent, but as a result of the friction that had developed, Wiley refused to endorse Rodham afterward. In the general election contest against incumbent Republican Senator Connie Mack III, Rodham had few funds, only one television commercial, and little support from the Florida Democratic party establishment in a year that saw Republican gains everywhere. Bill and Hillary Clinton both campaigned for Rodham, but his organization was unable to take advantage of their help. In one case late in the race, Bill Clinton flew to Miami