Reports are out that Bill McCollum is at least thinking about running for the Senate in 2016. Sorry, but the longtime Florida Republican leader should probably stay at home.
McCollums conservatism and experience cant be questioned. He served 20 years in Congress and was one of the managers of the Clinton impeachment. During his time as Florida attorney general, McCollum was in the thick of the fight against Obamacare, starting the ball rolling for the constitutional challenge, denied by one vote on the Supreme Court.
But McCollum has failed badly in his various bids for statewide office. His best shot came in 2000 when he took on Bill Nelson for an open Senate seat. Unlike the presidential contest that year, the Senate election wasnt exactly a nailbiter and Nelson won. Four years later, McCollum tried again, this time coming up short to Mel Martinez in the Republican primary.
Bouncing back to become attorney general in 2006, McCollum set his sights on becoming governor. He started off as the favorite but ended up in a heated contest with Rick Scott. Losing by a small margin, he refused to endorse Scott even as his fellow Republican faced a close race against Democrat Alex Sink.
Since then, McCollum has remained active in politics and in lobbying. McCollum was one of Newt Gingrichs chief boosters in Florida, just as he had been for Rudy Giuliani back in 2008. When Scott ran for a second term, McCollum endorsed him, unlike he had four years before.
McCollum would pose something of a problem for Republicans if he runs for the Senate yet again. He is very much yesterdays news, the definition of a career politician even as Republicans in general, and Florida Republicans in particular, are starting to shy away from them. Scott took advantage of that in 2010 and was pretty successful in painting McCollum as constantly running for office and having overstayed his time in office.
Granted, McCollum has tons of experience and strong name recognition, but Republicans are looking for something else in 2016. Voters are growing increasingly convinced that politics are broken. That being the case, Republicans are eyeing far younger, less experienced candidates like Tom Rooney, Ron DeSantis, Carlos Lopez-Cantera and others than someone like McCollum, even with his conservative convictions. Plenty of Republicans want to make 2016 a change election -- thats one of the reasons theres so much opposition to Jeb Bush -- and McCollum gets in the way of that narrative.
McCollum has had numerous chances to hold statewide office. At 70 this year, his best shots to move up the political ladder have come and gone. With the exception of his win over Skip Campbell in 2006, McCollum has not been a political winner in a long time. With plenty of other Republicans testing the waters, its tough to see McCollum having a serious chance here, even with his solid conservative principles and experience.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this analysis exclusively for Sunshine State News.
