The fur is flying in the gubernatorial race a year before Floridians cast their votes, with Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic rivals former Gov. Charlie Crist and former state Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich tearing into each other.
After announcing on Monday that he was running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, Crist has drawn heavy fire from Republicans and primary opponent Rich. On Thursday, the Republican Governors Association (RGA) sent out Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, an ally of Scott, to fire away at Crist.
I know Rick Scott and I know Charlie Crist and I know the difference, Perry told the media in a conference call on Thursday afternoon. Rick Scott is a clear leader. Hes a job creator.
Calling Scott a personal friend, Perry pointed to the competition between the two of them to bring jobs to their respective states. He compels me to become a more competitive governor, Perry told the media, citing the 330,000 private-sector jobs in Florida and the drop in the state unemployment rate during Scotts watch. Perry even called Scott one passionate dude when it came to job creation.
Scott cleaned up the mess Charlie Crist created, Perry said. Charlie Crist had his chance.
Crist had an abysmal record on job creation, Perry insisted.
Perry also hammered Crist in more personal terms. He changed his party, Perry said of Crist. He cant change his stripes.
Asked about why Scott was trailing in the polls, Perry dismissed them and noted he was down 25 percent in the polls a year out for his Republican primary battle against then-U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas. Perry went on to crush Hutchison in the primary.
Perry was not the only Republican to swing away at Crist on Thursday. Two congressmen and a prominent state senator also piled on Crist.
"Charlie Crist is up to his usual tricks again, attempting to persuade voters that he's 'for the people' when we really know he's only for Charlie, said U.S. Rep Jeff Miller, R-Fla., on Thursday. As governor he oversaw 832,000 Floridians losing their jobs and a skyrocketing unemployment rate which reached 11.1 percent. He also added $5.2 billion to the state's debt and did nothing to fix the problems many Floridians were facing. Instead, he abandoned us when things got tough in order to pursue higher political office. Floridians deserve better than an opportunistic politician like Charlie."
Freshman U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis also fired away at Crist. "Charlie Crist isn't a man of the people, DeSantis said. He's a man of the wind, going wherever it takes him. When faced with the challenges of governing, Charlie Crist shirked his duties in favor of pursuing his next political career move. He should have put personal ambition aside and buckled down to fix Florida's failing economy. We need a governor we can trust will stick to the job even when times are tough. We know Charlie Crist isn't that governor."
Unlike DeSantis, Florida Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, has worked with Crist in Tallahassee. Lee served as Senate president when Crist was attorney general. In 2006, both of them were on the Republican ticket though Lee came up short in his bid for state CFO while Crist won the gubernatorial election.
"I've known Charlie Crist for almost 20 years, Lee said on Thursday. He's a nice guy, but desperate to be a politician again. Now more than ever, Americans need to be able to trust their elected officials to do what they say they're going to do, and to be effective in their job. Charlie was against deficit spending and is now for it. Charlie was a staunch Second Amendment supporter and now is not. And when Charlie said he was committed to helping Floridians, he abandoned our state to try to become a Washington, D.C., politician. Unfortunately, Charlie's more interested in climbing the political ladder than working hard to serve Floridians. How can he expect Floridians to trust him now?"
But Crist gave as good as he got this week. Crist appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews on MSNBC on Wednesday night where he threw a few jabs at Scott. Matthews praised Crist for working with President Barack Obama as governor despite being a Republican at the time and compared the Floridian to Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey who is one of the leading Republican presidential candidates in 2016.
Crist bashed Scott for rejecting high-speed rail and criticized the governor on Medicaid expansion.
A month after he gets sworn in, Chris, he says no to high-speed rail, Crist said about Scott, insisting Scott cost Florida tens of thousands of jobs and $2.4 billion in investments.
Crist called Scott callous and heartless for doing nothing to fight for Medicaid expansion despite the governors support of it. What did that do to my fellow Floridians?" Crist demanded. About a million of them will get health care because he did not try harder in getting this thing done.
Raising the stakes, Crist said this would have dire consequences for Floridians. People who are already sick and need to get health care arent going to get it and will get sicker or theyll die, Crist insisted.
Matthews ripped the way Republicans treat Obama as bad politics and the new Democrat agreed.
Its not only bad politics, its bad behavior, Crist said, noting it goes against his Judeo-Christian upbringing. The presidents done a great job, hes worked hard and hes my friend.
As Crist looked to win points with Democrats by praising Obama, his chief primary opponent hit from the left on abortion. Looking to close the gap against Crist and rally Democrats against the former Republican, Rich came out swinging against her opponents on Thursday on abortion.
Last week a federal appeals court reinstated abortion restrictions passed by the Texas Legislature, Rich wrote supporters. As a result, its estimated that about one-third of the states clinics will be forced to close. But this isn't just about Texas. A recent USA Today story reported that there have been 203 abortion restrictions passed in 30 states over the past three years.
Theres one sure way to stop this from happening in Florida -- elect a strong pro-choice governor. Rick Scotts not pro-choice. Charlie Crist is not pro-choice. But I am, Rich continued. As your governor, I will veto any bill that restricts womens reproductive rights!
Make no mistake, the war against women is real. And its being fought here in Florida. We simply cannot let right-wing extremists turn back the clock and strip away the rights women have fought so hard to win, Rich insisted. Women must have the right to control their own personal health decisions. As your governor, and as a woman, you can count on me to protect those rights -- absolutely.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com.
