Sorry, ACU: No Way Is Jack Latvala More Conservative than Joe Negron

Submitted by Nancy Smith on December 5, 2012 - 9:10pm

If the American Conservative Union is going to rank Jack Latvala more conservative than Joe Negron, it's lost credibility with me and I'll bet a lot of other Republicans.

In the ACU's second annual Florida Legislative Ratings Guide, released Wednesday, Negron, R-Stuart could do no better than match former Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, with a 71. St. Petersburg Republican Latvala, meanwhile, was up there with Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Wellington, scoring an 86. (Benacquisto is only 86 percent conservative but Bradenton's just-termed-out Mike Bennett is 100 percent? Unbelievable.)

The ACU said it only measured legislators by their voting record. Just their voting record on certain bills.

But votes, like whole sentences, can be taken out of context and used to distort the truth. Closer to the truth is this: Both senators reflect the sea they swim in and the color of the water on their coast. Negron's on the Treasure Coast is bright red, Latvala's on the Gulf -- if not blue -- is at least purple.

With its list, all the ACU did was rank and reward Florida legislators according to how they genuflected before the ACU agenda. It failed to peer behind that one-dimensional curtain to identify the state's tried and true conservative leadership corps.

It needs to expand its judging criteria. Next time, ladies and gentlemen. Please.

Read Eric Giunta's story on the rankings in Sunshine State News.

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