The bare-knuckle brawl between Bill McCollum and Rick Scott has been stoked by two other bitter rivals: their campaign managers, who also happen to be former partners.
Florida's Republican gubernatorial primary -- the most expensive in state history -- has provided a high-stakes boxing ring for McLaughlin & Associates and Tony Fabrizio to punch and counterpunch their way through one of the nation's most combative contests.
With polls closely split on Tuesday's outcome, it's not clear who wll get the better of the fight. But with Scott, McCollum and sundry surrogates spending more than $70 million in just five months, their strategists have had plenty of money to throw around the ring.
If voters think there's bad blood between Scott and McCollum, the Fabrizio-McLaughlins feud is deeper and has been going on for years.
On the surface, the two firms would appear to have much in common. They both specialize in Republican campaigns. Both have offices within blocks of each other in Alexandria, Va.
Both firms' client lists read like a who's who of conservative politics.
In Scott's camp is Fabrizio, who has worked for Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and dozens of senators and congressmen, as well as the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee.
He was chief pollster and strategist for Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign, and his corporate clients include Visa, Hewlett-Packard, Bank of America, AOL/Time-Warner, FedEx, Pfizer and Harrahs.
McCollum has relied on brothers John and Jim McLaughlin, whose client list includes California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, billionaire businessman Steve Forbes, former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, and 14 current and former senators and 25 House members.
Among the senators: John Warner (2002), George Allen (2000), Richard Lugar (2000), Richard Shelby (1998), Jeff Sessions (1996) and Jesse Helms (1984/1990).
Outside the country, the McLaughlins worked for Stephen Harper, the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, and this spring the firm was retained by Israel's conservative Likud Bloc.?
At one time, Fabrizio and the McLaughlins worked in the same shop, but when the Brothers McLaughlin left to form their own company, the divorce was not amicable. And, when Fabrizio kept the McLaughlins' name on his firm's nameplate -- Fabrizio McLaughlin and Associates -- the die was cast for an ongoing clash.
Both sides have their admirers.
"Fabrizio is like Patton. He's a bulldog, a battlefield general," said Roger Stone, a veteran Republican consultant based in South Florida.
Regarded as one of the best GOP pollsters, "Fabrizio knows how to interpret data and put it to use in a very hands-on way. He'll move (TV) spots in Jacksonville, he'll be changing the mix of mailers," Stone relates.
"And he does it for less," Stone adds.
In Stone's view, Scott, a billionaire retired health-care executive, and Fabrizio meshed perfectly.
"(Scott) said, 'Here's $58 million. Elect me.'"
A clear division of labor -- and a strict adherence to agreed-on talking points -- has helped Scott avoid the pitfalls encountered by other big-money hopefuls.
"There are wealthy candidates who think they know how the process works. They write their own ads and edit their own press releases. Jeff Greene comes to mind. He's eight times wealtheir than Rick Scott, and he's micromanaging his own freak show," Stone said.
Campaign finance reports show Fabrizio's Multi Media Services has collected $41 million from the Scott campaign and his Let's Get To Work 527 for media purchase activities.
On McCollum's side, the McLaughlins "did a very capable and cogent job against a guy who had a lot of money," said Rick Wilson, a Florida GOP consultant.
Wilson, who supports McCollum, noted that the McLaughlins have "a deep base of experience in Florida."
That base dates back to Connie Mack's 1988 U.S. Senate campaign, for which Arthur Finkelstein did polling. The 65-year-old Finkelstein, who modeled and taught many of today's GOP consultants, including Fabrizio and the McLaughlins, has handled strategy for McCollum this year.
Fabrizio, who declined to be interviewed for this story, is a "solid conservative with a tinge of pragmatism," Stone related.
That pragmatic streak showed in 2007, when he addressed a Log Cabin Republican convention in Denver. Some GOP consultants who cater to social conservatives wouldn't have been caught dead at such a gathering.
Fabrizio also isn't averse to criticizing Republican leadership. Last year, he called national GOP attacks on President Barack Obama's national security policies out of touch and irrelevant.
Some may question Scott's decision to spurn invitations to meet with Florida newspaper editorial boards -- a tactic that helped McCollum go 12-0 in big-paper endorsements -- but it highlighted Fabrizio's gut instincts.
"He's not an academic; he's a fighter," Stone said of Fabrizio.
The McLaughlins, who also declined to be interviewed, might be considered the underfunded underdogs in the gubernatorial contest.
But with McCollum's team raising and spending some $19 million, including bundled contributions from 527s and friendly legislators, it's not exactly chump change. Campaign reports reveal McLaughlin & Associates has collected nearly $11 million from the McCollum campaign and his 527, Florida First Initiative, for media buying alone.
What this battle boils down to is whichever firm prevails in the heated gubernatorial contest will get a boost for its resume and for future business in this lucrative state. Either way, count on the Fabrizio-McLaughlins competition to continue to spark.
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
