How true, how true, Peter Brown. In trying to explain the governor's pre-election predicament during a Wednesday morning press conference, the Quinnipiac University polling guru so hit the nail on the head.
The jobs numbers in the state are getting better but Rick Scotts job approval isnt," Brown told reporters. "Now we have 20 months until the election and one assumes that Mr. Scott will use his considerable resources to remind voters of whats happened under his watch and he may have a good story to tell. But at this point, hes not getting it through.
I nearly fell off my chair.
Of course, he's not getting through.
Check out this video of Scott's meeting with the press just one day earlier.
The governor had good news to tell. Exciting news. News that screamed "I'm over here, guys -- SUCCESS STORY!"
Florida had just registered an unemployment rate of 7.8 percent, below the national unemployment rate of 7.9 percent for the first time in five years.
Watch him deliver the news, then watch what happens afterward when he turns it all over to the press for questions. Does a single reporter care about the good stuff? Anybody want to hear more? Not in Tallahassee. Not if it comes from Rick Scott.
Press folks in the company of this governor move right along to controversy, as they did here. Not that they used any of their questions or the governor's answers in a story, by the way.
So, getting back to Peter Brown's statement: He's right, Rick Scott is not getting through, and he won't.
Absolutely Scott will have to use his "considerable resources" to tell his story. What choice does he have? And when he does, watch the mainstreamers throttle him for throwing his millions into "negative" TV ads.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews or at (850) 727-0859.
