In buildup to probable run, Reno offers her vision for Florida's future.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. _ In a ballroom packed with Democratic Party loyalists Thursday night, Janet Reno spoke about her Florida. She recalled boating down the Suwannee River, diving in the Keys, watching a brilliant Marco Island sunset.

"I love this state with all my heart and soul," she said. Then, as the party faithful waited in rapt silence, Reno added: "We have got to beat Jeb Bush."

The crowd of hundreds roared its approval, and over the next few minutes Reno offered a glimpse of the themes that would likely drive her campaign to unseat the state's popular Republican governor.

Although she is not expected to open a campaign account until Tuesday and has been coy about her plans, Reno has spent weeks touring the state, offering a firmly Democratic vision for the state's future.

In speeches and interviews, the nation's first female attorney general has talked about revamping the state's education system, guarding its environment, protecting its elderly and children, and limiting growth so "it doesn't take two hours to drive from downtown Miami out to Kendall."

For a woman most Americans know only as the nation's chief law enforcement officer _ consumed with the custody of Elian Gonzalez, taking responsibility for the disastrous siege at Waco, and weighing the appointments of independent counsels _ this is the introduction of a new political leader.

She has held just one elected office, as Dade County's state attorney. And she has been away from Florida for eight years.