RPOF Calls Out Mainstream Media for Helping Charlie Crist

Lenny Curry, the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF), came out swinging against the mainstream media on Tuesday. Curry painted the Tampa Bay Times and the Miami Herald as in the corner of former Gov. Charlie Crist, the front-runner for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination despite spending most of his political career as a Republican.

I'm sure many of you have seen the recent Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald stories on Governor Rick Scott's jobs record, Curry wrote in a memo sent out on Tuesday. At best, the stories are a very narrow view of the Scott administration's efforts and results, cherry-picking data that presents the public a skewed view of reality.

To me, this appears to be an effort to prop up Charlie Crist's campaign for governor by trying to tear down Rick Scott, Curry insisted. We don't expect the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald to do a series of stories on Charlie Crist's jobs record. So, using their own math and very narrow, obscure sources of data, let's take a different look at Charlie's record.

The Times and Herald used YourEconomy.org to assess private-sector jobs, Curry continued. Using that data source, Charlie Crist lost over 3.4 million private-sector jobs from January 2007 to December 2010. The Times and Herald also used data from the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filings from large employers. Using that data source, there was a loss of over 89,000 jobs from companies with more than 100 employees under Charlie Crist.

Charlie Crist has tried, and will continue to try, to brush off blame for his disastrous economic record, added Curry. Using real math and common sources of data, like the Bureau of Labor Statistics, here's the Crist record that isn't being reported, and likely will never be reported, by the Times or the Herald.

Curry pointed to the growth of the state unemployment rate under Crist which rose from 3.5 percent to 11 percent during his term as governor. The RPOF chairman also cited Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers. Of the 48 months Charlie Crist was in office, Florida's unemployment was above the national average for 35 consecutive months."

Curry ended by tearing into Crist. Florida Democrats know that Charlie Crist can't defend his own economic record," Curry wrote. Many prominent Florida Democrats who have questioned Crist's candidacy have recognized that this record is a liability. So the only way for Charlie to talk about the issue that Floridians care about most is to attempt to tear down Rick Scott.

Curry also encouraged Republicans to hit back. The misleading talking points that the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald have provided to Charlie Crist and the Florida Democratic Party will undoubtedly be used on the campaign trail and on the airwaves, Curry wrote. But the facts that we've provided above should give you ample opportunity to respond whenever you see these arguments being made on talk radio, in newspapers, on TV, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Bottom line: No news organization can manipulate or dictate the facts to Floridians, especially when those facts clearly show we can't afford another four years of Charlie Crist, Curry wrote in conclusion.