BY CAROL ROSENBERG

 For years a darling of Miami-Dade's Cuban-American community, Attorney
 General Janet Reno now rivals its Public Enemy No. 1 for scorn here because
 of her handling of the Elian Gonzalez case.

 In Little Havana, people demanding that Elian be allowed to stay have taken to
 chanting ``Abajo Fidel, Abajo Reno,'' down with Fidel Castro, down with Reno.
 And Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas on Wednesday singled her out by name,
 along with President Clinton, to take the blame for any eruptions of community
 street violence.

 `PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 2'

 ``She hasn't gotten to [Public Enemy] No. 1. That's Fidel. But No. 2 -- she's
 there,'' Miami City Commissioner Tomas Regalado said. He added wryly: ``I would
 think that if she runs for dogcatcher, she probably couldn't make the runoff.''

 Political strategist Ric Katz, who once went door-to-door campaigning for a failed
 Reno legislative seat, said the Elian case has made her so disliked in pockets of
 her hometown that ``I think she would have a very difficult time coming back here''
 after her term expires.

 ``She's a strong-willed-enough person to come back here just because there's a
 perception that she's unwanted -- and to say in a polite way, `Screw you. It was
 my hometown before it was your hometown.' But a lot of her great friends are
 gone and I cannot imagine what kind of quality of life she would have.''

 HAD POPULAR SUPPORT

 It wasn't always that way. During her 15 years as Dade County's state attorney,
 she courted the Cuban-American vote and won widespread approval. Then a radio
 talk-show host, Regalado said he frequently had her as a guest, where she used
 her limited Spanish to line up community support committees -- among
 merchants, lawyers, and other Cuban-American groups.

 So much so, he said, that Cubans overwhelmingly voted for her over a
 Cuban-American challenger in 1984. He was Jose Garcia-Pedrosa, the former
 Miami Beach city manager who is now one of the pro-bono lawyers representing
 Elian's great-uncle Lazaro in his court battle.

 At the Justice Department on Wednesday, aides said Reno was too preoccupied
 with the Elian case to comment on her sinking popularity at home.

 But in January she responded this way to criticism of her management style:

 ``Anybody that worries about what others are going to say about them is
 ultimately going to pull some punches and shape what they do based on what
 they think their reputation will be. Sometimes the way you do things is not the
 way people think is the way it should be done; but they usually don't have all the
 information.''

 OTHER CLASHES

 The Elian case is not the first time Reno has clashed ideologically with South
 Florida's activist Cuban community since Clinton appointed her attorney general
 in 1983, his third choice after two other female nominees ran into confirmation
 difficulties.

 She was similarly criticized in 1995 for being a part of a Cuban repatriation
 agreement that stemmed from the rafters crisis.

 But the Elian crisis has brought Reno particularly harsh criticism.

 ``Thousands of Cubans here have become Elian's grandparents or Elian's big
 brothers,'' Regalado said. ``People see [Reno] as stubborn and just siding with
 Fidel -- and that's the worst crime you can commit in the Cuban community.''

 Herald staff writer Ana Acle contributed to this report.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald