George LeMieux Takes Aim at Adam Hasner's Conservative Credentials

Former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux is taking aim at former House Majority Leader Adam Hasner as the Republican primary battle to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012 heats up.

Hasner has gathered the support of some prominent conservatives at the state and national levels -- including, on Friday, the backing of the Family Research Council Action PAC. In a new Web video, the LeMieux team is trying to argue that Hasner is a phony conservative" -- an argument they have made at a campaign website.

Desperate and stuck in last place in the polls, Adam Hasner has spent months running from his record in Tallahassee, said Brian Seitchik, LeMieuxs campaign manager. Seitchik focused on a site Hasner launched, insisting LeMieux was French for Crist -- a reference to LeMieuxs old ally former Gov. Charlie Crist who remains unpopular with Florida Republicans for leaving the GOP. Now hes even attacking George LeMieuxs family ancestry. Ethnic attacks are not what Floridians deserve to hear, Adam; lets stick to the records.Our video is entirely factual and entirely about the Hasner record, not about anyones ethnicity.The problem for Adam is that his record is a whole lot less conservative than he wants Florida Republicans to think, and the voters just arent buying his masquerade.

The Hasner camp fired back on Monday afternoon.

With $15 trillion in national debt and nearly one million Floridians unemployed, the last thing voters want to hear is a U.S. senator whining about the push and pull of the election season, Douglass Mayer, a spokesman for Hasner, wrote in an email to Sunshine State News on Monday. Despite his attempts at reinvention, George LeMieux is a Charlie Crist Republican, and Floridians deserve to know the truth. To paraphrase Herman Cain, George LeMieux needs to learn how to take a joke.