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Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Florida Republican Gubernatorial Candidate, Sparks Fear In GOP

The Huffington Post | Elyse Siegel First Posted: 07-26-10 01:51 PM | Updated: 07-26-10 01:51 PM
Self-funding candidate Rick Scott's status as the frontrunner in Florida's Republican primary race for Governor. This has some of the Good Ol' Boys in the state's GOP community concerned.

Adam Smith at the St. Petersburg Times reports:

Scott has zero allegiance to the state party leadership or its favored political consultants and lobbyists-fundraisers who are doing all they can to beat him.

GOP chairman John Thrasher has rebuked Scott for criticizing the way rival Bill McCollum failed to aggressively pursue alleged mismanagement by former party chairman Jim Greer, who now faces criminal charges.

Incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon and Senate President Mike Haridopolos, both of whom stood by Greer for months and worked with McCollum and Thrasher to give Greer a secret severance package, have funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to political committees to defeat Scott.

Since Scott is challenging State Attorney General Bill McCollum for Florida's GOP gubernatorial nomination. The Republican hopeful has spent immense sums of his own wealth to advance his electoral pursuit. In the second quarter alone, Scott injected $22.6 million into his campaign fight.

Meanwhile, with Florida's August 24 primary election just weeks away, McCollum's camp has found itself cash-strapped and struggling to ward off a constant stream of attacks from Scott.

Prior to entering the political arena, Scott was perhaps best known as the head of the (Columbia) Hospital Corporation of America -- a company that was slapped with a $1.7 billion fine after it plead guilty "to 14 felony charges stemming from a massive federal fraud investigation."


A recent editorial from the St. Petersburg Times offers this scathing review:

Scott's latest effort to burnish his credentials as a "pro-life leader'' are deceitful and lack any sense of decency. The hospital executive is shamelessly exploiting the tragedy of a family of a severely disabled young woman, marking the second time he has placed his selfish interests over theirs. The heartless ploy speaks volumes to this candidate's character and raises more questions about his judgment.

Rightardia comment: the intramural warfare between the two candidates has been good for Alex Sink, the Democratic front runner. She is beating both GOP candidates and has run a very limited campaign with little advertising. See http://rightardia.blogspot.com/2010/07/republican-primary-is-benefiiitng.html

Sink has not been aggressively campaigning and may be saving her funds for the general election. Sink leads Rick Scott 36--30 and Attorney General Bill McCollum 37--23.


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