On Tuesday, the team at Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies unleashed their latest volleys against President Barack Obama and Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. The two Democrat incumbents are expected to face tough fights in Florida as they seek re-election in 2012.
Steven Law, president of Crossroads GPS and former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, took aim at Obama and Nelson, pointing to unemployment numbers released by the state of Florida last week. The unemployment rate in Florida for November stood at 10 percent -- down from where it had been throughout 2011, but higher than the national average.
President Obama and Bill Nelson have failed Florida with their unfocused economic plan that has not lowered unemployment despite burdening every man, woman and child with $48,000 in government debt, Law said in a statement released on Tuesday. Instead of more wasteful stimulus packages and bailouts, which have not fixed the economy, Obama and Nelson should focus on real solutions to put the nearly 926,000 Floridians without jobs back to work.
The Crossroads GPS team pointed to employment figures from when Nelson took office and contrasted them with the most recent numbers from November 2011. When Nelson took office in January 2001, 310,687 Floridians were out of work. As of November 2011, that number stood at 925,789. In January 2001, the unemployment rate in Florida stood at 3.9 percent, while in October 2011 it was 10 percent.
Crossroads GPS is part of American Crossroads, a conservative political organization with ties to many prominent Republican leaders, including legendary strategist Karl Rove and former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie. Law is no stranger to Republican politics. Before serving under then-U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao in George W. Bushs presidential administration, Law was with the National Republican Senate Committee under her husband, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
In October and November, Crossroads GPS released ads in Florida taking aim at Obama, using a quote from former President Bill Clinton to bash the president for proposing to raise taxes.
Crossroads GPS ran ads for two weeks across Florida, hitting Fort Myers-Naples, Jacksonville, Orlando-Daytona Beach, Tampa Bay-St. Petersburg and West Palm Beach. The group also ran ads in other battleground states, including Colorado, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
The group is expected to remain active in Florida throughout 2012.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
