ASHINGTON - It's not every day that Senator Bob Smith is called to attend to a national crisis. But when the relatives of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez flew to Washington after the raid on their Miami home, Smith, a New Hampshire Republican, decided his time had come.
Dashing into the deserted Capitol on Saturday, Smith met with the four relatives, concerned for them, he said, because ''they had no advocate.'' He drove with them to Andrews Air Force Base. He had them over for dinner. They held news conferences together. They exchanged Easter tokens.
''They needed help. They were desperate,'' Smith said yesterday. ''No one from the government made any offer to help them....I've been with them ever since they got here on Saturday.''
In fact, not since his failed presidential bid last fall - and arguably even before that - has Smith appeared as much a force as he has over the last three days, as the case of Elian Gonzalez has found its way into the nation's capital.
Never mind that he speaks little Spanish. Never mind that he is from New Hampshire, a state with virtually no Cuban-American constituency. Never mind that he is a Republican better known for railing against abortion, not promoting the cause of relatives' rights.
But Smith is on the case, having been introduced to the Miami family through a Gonzalez relative who knew a member of Smith's staff. Given the distant connection, some observers find Smith's sudden starring role puzzling. And at the same time, some critics are troubled by his efforts, as Smith has at times appeared to overstep the tradition-bound etiquette of the US Senate.
Especially troubling to some observers is Smith's vehement attack on military officials who granted Smith access to the Andrews Air Force Base compound where Elian is staying with his father, but forbidding access to the Miami relatives.
Smith wants to know: ''Why shouldn't I be able to go in there with those guests?''
''They [the military] work for me,'' Smith said yesterday. ''The military works for the elected officials, not the other way around. This is not a terrorist state. This is not a coup d'etat. This is America and the military is ruled by elected officials.''
One Republican aide to a New England senator said other senators are appalled by such talk. At least one Republican senator expressed embarrassment upon learning about a news conference Smith held with the family at the Capitol on Saturday.
Among Democrats, the criticism was even more blunt. Kathy Sullivan, who chairs the New Hampshire state Democratic Party, said it was a case of ''Bob Smith trying to throw his weight around.''
Even Senate majority leader Trent Lott, who agrees with Smith on principle, has refused to applaud his efforts wholeheartedly. Asked to described Smith's official role in the case, John Czwartacki, a spokesman for Lott, said Smith had ''an interest, a keen interest, and a unique perspective,'' but declined to say whether Republican leaders appreciated the help.
Smith has maintained a delicate relationship with conservative Republican leaders over the last year, after first renouncing his party to run for president as an Independent, then taking more moderate positions on the environment when he returned to the GOP fold last fall. But he has never suggested his involvement in the case of the Cuban boy, and his tough anti-Castro stance, is any sort of olive branch to the party faithful.
If anything, Smith's role seems to conform to his long pattern of adopting unusual causes, from banning corporate gifts in the Senate to saving monkeys from being launched in space. In the words of one Republican aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Smith and the Miami relatives are ''a perfect match.''
In addition to his efforts on behalf of the relatives so far, Smith is also calling for congressional investigations into the Justice Department's handling of the case.
