Can former Birds man make Rubio fly?

THE MAN who once was certain that Rich Kotite was the guy to lead the Eagles to their first Super Bowl title is now spending a not-so-small fortune to pick your next president.

Norman Braman, the billionaire South Florida car dealer who disappeared from his native Philadelphia two decades ago after a mostly reviled stint as owner of the Birds, is back in the public eye with a brand new model.

He's the No. 1 booster of his state's junior Republican senator, Marco Rubio, for the White House in 2016.

And apparently the 82-year-old Braman - who notoriously let future Hall of Famer Reggie White walk away from the Eagles to win a championship in Green Bay - will do whatever it takes to close this deal.

Published reports say Braman is willing to invest at least $10 million and perhaps as much as $25 million to finance a so-called Super PAC to help the Florida conservative break out of a herd of more than a dozen GOP rivals.

"I believe that the country needs him," Braman told the Washington Post back in April, emphasizing the youth of the 44-year-old Rubio, a charismatic Cuban-American who could be the first Latino president. "I believe that we've had poor leadership and I believe sincerely that he represents the future."

But political observers say Braman's deep-pocketed involvement - along with that of still-as-yet uncommitted billionaires like Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and the oil-rich Koch brothers - represents a darker future for American democracy.

"We're calling it 'the BYOB election' - for 'Bring Your Own Billionaire,' " said Chris Gates, president of the Washington-based Sunlight Foundation, a non-profit that highlights the growing role of money in American politics.

In the wake of court decisions that have allowed Super PACs to raise unlimited amounts from the wealthy in support of a candidate, having Your Own Billionaire lined up is almost the prerequisite for launching a bid for the Oval Office.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, for example, has his billionaire backer, a previously little-known Long Island hedge-fund operator named Robert Mercer who's already thrown down as much as $31 million. On bended knee, like starving artists courting the House of Medici during the Italian Renaissance, Republican White House wannabees make pilgrimages to Nevada to woo Adelson, who spent $98 million on elections in 2012 including $20 million for his initial pick, Newt Gingrich.

For car mogul Braman, spending eight figures on Rubio will make a dent in his fortune, but not a major one. He's estimated by the Miami Herald to be worth $1.9 billion, even after losing some of his fortune in the Bernie Madoff scam. Some of that money is rooted in the $180 million he reaped in 1994 from selling the Eagles to current owner Jeffrey Lurie - near three times what he'd paid for the NFL franchise.

Buying the Birds in 1985 had been something of a homecoming for Braman, who grew up the son of a barber and a seamstress in Cobbs Creek and went on to West Philadelphia High School and Temple before striking it rich first with vitamins and drug stores and later with luxury cars.

Glen Macnow, who covered Braman as a sportswriter for the Inquirer and is now a WIP radio host, said Braman had been a training camp water boy for the Eagles during their Steve Van Buren glory days of the 1940s and was hailed by fans at first, saving the Birds from flying the coop for Phoenix under predecessor Leonard Tose. But the honeymoon was brief.

"When we ask listeners who is the most hated all-time person in Philadelphia sports, Braman is the consistent winner," Macnow said. "No fan ever has a nice thing to say about Norman Braman."

He was seen, Macnow recalled, as an absentee owner who checked in for game weekends at the posh Four Seasons. He hired popular coach Buddy Ryan almost by accident and the two men had a rocky relationship, with Ryan calling the owner "the man in France" during Braman's summers abroad. Braman promised fans a Super Bowl but seemed to care more about the bottom line - a complaint amplified by his bitter ex-star White.

Not to mention the unpopular Kotite, who was fired not long after Lurie's arrival.

But Neil Oxman, a top Democratic political consultant and a lifelong Philadelphian, thinks that Braman's reputation won't tarnish Rubio if and when the Floridian seeks votes in the region next year - largely because memories have dimmed over 21 years.

Oxman said he believes people are more riled up about money in politics - because "very few people don't get to be a billionaire without some aspects that are loathesome to Americans."

Braman is clearly hoping for more from Rubio than he got from Kotite.

According to news accounts, Braman met Rubio in the early 2000s when he was a young, little-known state lawmaker. While Braman filmed a tribute predicting Rubio would be the first Hispanic president, according to the New York Times, Rubio - who became speaker of the Florida House - steered taxpayer dollars to the billionaire's pet projects such as a Miami cancer research institute.

Indeed, the Times has documented close ties between Braman and Rubio that go beyond political donations. Just days after Rubio's 2010 election to the U.S. Senate, the Bramans took Rubio and his wife Jeanette on a trip to Israel, a nation that's high on Braman's list of political passions as well.

Braman's charitable foundation also hired Rubio's wife as an adviser, the Times reported, while a Braman company hired Rubio as a lawyer during his 2010 campaign. A university teaching gig for Rubio was also underwritten by a Braman check.

Contacted for this article, the Rubio campaign referred a reporter to an interview the White House hopeful gave MSNBC last month.

"Norm Braman is a great man, a pillar of the South Florida community and someone who I'm personally close to," Rubio told the network. "I'm very proud to be associated with him," adding that Braman had only asked for political help with charitable causes like the cancer center.

Braman wasn't available for this article. An aide reported that "the man in France" is away on a summer vacation.

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