A new player has waded into Florida's U.S. Senate race, though, technically, it's not taking sides.
Club for Growth Action is airing radio ads along Central Florida's I-4 Corridor condemning Gov. Charlie Crist's Everglades land deal with U.S. Sugar.
The ad states:
We know all about the disastrous bailouts coming from Washington. First Wall Street, then the auto companies taxpayers left holding the bag for billions of dollars. But, now we learn about a massive bailout right here in Florida, engineered by our own governor, Charlie Crist.
Thats right. In a front-page expos The New York Times uncovered the truth about Charlie Crists billion-dollar bailout for U.S. Sugar. Crist claimed it was to save the Everglades. But, The Times examined thousands of state email messages and official records and found that Charlie Crists decisions were bad for the Everglades and terrible for taxpayers.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush called the sugar bailout deeply disappointing. A giant sugar company gets to wipe all the debts from its books, while Floridians are on the hook for over half-a-billion dollars.
Tell Charlie Crist that taxpayers need his help more than U.S. Sugar.
Club for Growth Action, is a spinoff of the Washington, D.C.-based Club for Growth Political Action Committee. As a federally registered 501c4 organization, the "Action" group is barred from direct involvement in political campaigns, but its advocacy against Crist's Everglades land deal puts the group in the same camp as the Club for Growth PAC, which has endorsed Crist's Republican primary opponent Marco Rubio.
Mike Connolly, spokesman for Club for Growth Action, said, "There may well be more ads to come. I wouldn't rule anything out."
At this point, however, Connolly does not think the group will be purchasing TV spots.
But, he said, voters should stay tuned.
Connolly did not discloseother issues in which Club for Growth Action is involved. Nor would he divulge its finances.
The entry of Club for Growth Action into the Everglades debate is yet another example of how the issue is used to leverage votes and dollars across Florida's political landscape.
In endorsing Rubio last November, Club for Growth President Chris Chocola called the former House speaker "a dynamic spokesman for the principles of limited government and economic freedom."
By contrast, Chocola said, "Charlie Crist has repeatedly joined with big government liberals on major economic issues facing America today, from taxes to spending to cap-and-trade. He represents the wrong direction for our economy and our nation."
Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or (772) 801-5341.
