Florida Democrats ramped up their attacks against Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday while Republicans fired back at former Gov. Charlie Crist who, despite spending most of his political career with the GOP, is the front-runner for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination next year.
The Florida Democratic Party unveiled a website and Web video attacking Scott on Wednesday, hitting him on a host of issues. Bashing Scott for backing the GOP in Congress on fiscal issues and pointing toward scandals wich have hurt the adminstration this year on the site, the Florida Democrats are advertising it through social media and search engines.
Allison Tant, the chairwoman of the Florida Democrats, insisted Scott wasted 2013 and made little progress this year.
Rick Scott wanted to use 2013 to whitewash his political image before his re-election fight next year, Tant said on Wednesday. Rick Scott failed. Unfortunately for Floridians, Scott continued to pursue his misguided priorities, from taxpayer handouts for the special interests to supporting the government shutdown that cost Florida billions. This new website and video take a look at Rick Scotts terrible year, and show how it was a terrible year for regular Floridians, too.
Despite Tants claims, Scott has closed the gap on Crist through 2013 though he remains down in the polls. While he has not been able to catch Crist in the polls, Scott actually has inched up in 2013. Crist led Scott by 16 percent in a Quinnipiac University poll released in March. A Quinnipiac poll released in the latter half of November found Scott down to Crist by 7 percent.
The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) fired back by attacking Crist on Wednesday.
Charlie Crist and the Democrats continue to resort to baseless and useless attacks to help good-time Charlie divert attention away from his steadfast and unwavering support of Obamacare, which is causing 300,000 Floridians to lose their current health insurance plans, said Susan Hepworth, a spokeswoman for the RPOF. Once again, Charlie Crist and his liberal friends have no positive policy agenda for Florida.
Before the Democrats launched the site, the RPOF hit Crist by linking him to President Barack Obamas federal health-care law.
As Florida's Obamacare defender-in-chief, Charlie Crist wants voters to forget about this law's many problems, said RPOF Chairman Lenny Curry on Wednesday morning. Obamacare's chief administrator, Kathleen Sebelius, has yet to be held accountable for the law's disastrous rollout, and Obamacare's chief architect admits that the law will cause patients to pay more for their doctors. Charlie Crist's dismissal of these problems proves that Floridians can't afford to have him back in the governor's mansion."
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com.
