Rick Scott, who looks like he could host “Tales from the Crypt,” beat Bill “Howdy Doody” McCollum to become the Republican nominee for governor of Florida on Tuesday. That places the Republican Party of Florida in the uncomfortable position of having to support a guy with more money than scruples who trounced their chosen candidate McCollum, the state’s attorney general, and who just last Sunday they were savaging in the final days of the primary run-up.
Through clenched teeth, RPOF Chairman John Thasher issued this restrained congratulatory press release today:
Republican Party of Florida Chairman John Thrasher today congratulated Rick Scott for his victory in the Republican gubernatorial primary election.
“The stakes are high and I look forward to the debate ahead as we contrast Alex Sink’s record of support for President Obama’s ultra liberal, left-wing ideology in the form of donations to his campaign, endorsements of his government takeover of our health care system and support for his failed stimulus package, with Rick Scott’s vision for Florida that will create 700,000 new jobs without expanding the size and scope government.
I’m confident that Republicans across the state will rally around our new nominee as we move forward together towards the November election.
Pretty resounding, eh? Contrast that with this message sent directly from Thrasher Sunday, Aug. 22, when McCollum still had a slim possibility of winning:
Fellow Republicans,
Over the last several weeks and in an escalated manner this weekend, Rick Scott has orchestrated a multifaceted campaign of misinformation in an effort to mislead Florida voters and confuse the facts surrounding the arrest and indictment of Jim Greer as well as the Party’s financial situation and preparedness to support our candidates as we move towards the November election.
The ads placed in newspapers this weekend, television advertisements and the stream of mail sent to voters by Mr. Scott alleging that Attorney General Bill McCollum acted inappropriately throughout the investigation, arrest and indictment of Jim Greer are untrue. Politifact has twice written that Mr. Scott’s attacks on this issue are false and that their continued use appears to be an attempt at diverting attention from Mr. Scott’s past legal issues.
As I have stated before, Attorney General McCollum, Speaker-Designate Cannon, Senate President -Designate Haridopolos and I stood up to Governor Crist and worked to remove Jim Greer as Chairman because of his mismanagement of the Party. When evidence of the alleged criminal wrongdoing Jim Greer has now been indicted for was presented to us, Attorney General McCollum acted swiftly to refer our findings to the proper authorities. Mr. Scott’s repeated attacks come straight from Jim Greer and the Florida Democrats’ talking points and seek to diminish and destroy the credibility of the Party we have worked so hard to rebuild following the Crist/Greer era.
Additionally, Mr. Scott’s false rhetoric about the state of the Party’s finances and our ability to support our candidates demonstrates a disturbing lack of understanding of federal and state election law. Despite having to pay down a significant amount of federal debt inherited from the previous administration, the Party has nearly half a million in the bank to help towards our get out the vote effort. We plan to add a significant amount to that during our upcoming Victory Dinner. With more than 20 victory offices open, our field staff numbers will rival what we have had in presidential years and with the help of our friends at the RNC, NRSC and NRCC voter contact will be at levels we in Florida are used to and more. Absentee and early vote numbers currently on the books indicate that our voters are active and engaged in this election, and that momentum will carry over into the general election in November.
Had Mr. Scott chosen to join every other statewide candidate in our efforts to fundraise for the Florida Victory 2010 effort, a strategic victory plan the McCollum Campaign has been involved with for nearly a year, he would be better educated as to the Party’s position headed into November and have a better understanding of specific resources the RPOF is able to provide various state and federal candidates. Instead, he’s chosen to criticize the Party with naive statements that are completely void of fact and reflect nothing more than his own failure to understand federal and state election law.
I remain hopeful that in the remaining days of this primary campaign, Rick Scott will begin to lay out a positive message for why he is running for the Republican nomination to be our next Governor, instead of continuing to release false statements regarding fellow Republicans and our Party.
Whoa! Thrasher went the long way around the pike to paint Scott with the Greer/Crist brush just last Sunday. Now he’s stuck with the tea bagger.
I almost feel a little sorry for the RPOF: abandoned by their dashing darling Charlie Crist, coffers plundered by Jim Greer, wracked by bitter in-fighting and now forced to support a creep who could care less about Florida’s Republican Party and who believes he can buy the governorship by just writing a check. Emphasis on almost.
The only thing Scott can say about his Democrat rival Alex Sink is that she’s a gubmint insider. Whereas with Scott, the Dems can attack the guy who was head of the company that perpetrated the biggest Medicare fraud in history and paid a $1.7 billion fine, also history’s largest.
It’s a great day not to be a Republican in Florida!
