Florida Gov. Rick Scott has a good opportunity to rally Republicans behind him -- and he may have an old political foe to thank for it.
Scott won a bloody Republican primary over then-Attorney General Bill McCollum in 2010. While Scott went on to defeat Democratic nominee Alex Sink, who was then serving as state CFO, in the closest gubernatorial election in more than 165 years of Florida statehood, McCollum sulked in his tent, refusing to endorse either of the candidates.
During his year and a half in Tallahassee, Scott has remained upside down in the polls despite signs that the economy in Florida is starting to recover. With Scott focusing on job growth during his campaign, the state unemployment rate has dropped under his watch -- going from 10.9 percent when he took over to 8.6 percent in May, the lowest it has been since December 2008. Despite these numbers, Scott remains underwater in the polls, with the percentage of Floridians who disapprove of the governor outpacing those who approve by double digits.
Two polls released this month by Quinnipiac University serve as solid examples of Scotts continuing struggles. A poll from Quinnipiac unveiled last week showed Scott getting the approval of 39 percent of those surveyed while 49 percent disapprove of him. Scott did even worse in a Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday that shows 48 percent of those surveyed disapprove of him while 35 percent approve of his performance in Tallahassee.
Scott should be concerned about his unsteady standing with Republicans. In the first poll, 71 percent of Republicans surveyed approved of Scott while 19 percent disapproved of him. In the new poll, 60 percent of Republicans approve of the governor while 25 percent disapprove of him.
Its a fairly dramatic swing in one week, but there are reasons for it. Before the first poll was unveiled, Scott launched a major media push to promote his call to purge noncitizen voters from the rolls. The first Quinnipiac poll showed that 60 percent of Floridians -- and 90 percent of Republicans -- backed the idea. Its an issue that clearly resonates with the Republican base and boosted the governors standing with the GOP rank and file.
Scott did not enjoy the political spotlight as much when the second poll was being taken, and his standing with Republicans slipped back. The governor was unknown to many Republican voters when he jumped into the gubernatorial race back in 2010 and bad feelings can still linger after an exceptionally bitter contest that he barely won. Remember, a majority of the Republicans who voted in the 2010 primary did not vote for Scott. He took 46 percent of the primary vote while McCollum drew 43 percent, and the rest went to businessman and retired Army officer Mike McCalister who is now running for the Republican nomination to take on incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. Clearly Scott still has work to do in rallying Republicans behind him if he wants to seek a second term in 2014.
This week, an opportunity presented itself for Scott to continue to mend fences with Republicans who arent quite sold on him -- and he has McCollum to thank. Hours after President Barack Obama signed the federal health-care bill in 2010, McCollum launched a constitutional challenge to it which has drawn the support of 25 other states. With the Supreme Court of the United States expected to offer a ruling on the challenge on Thursday, Scott has an opportunity to win-over hesitant Republicans by reminding them that he rose to national political prominence in 2009 by opposing Obama on the issue.
There are signs that Scott has something like that in mind. The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) released a statement on Tuesday in which the governor attacked the health-care law.
"I organized a group in 2009 to make sure we reduced the cost of health care for Americans, Scott said in the statement. Unfortunately, Obamacare passed. Obamacare will ration care for patients. It will make it more difficult for individuals looking for a job because employers will have to pay more for their employees' health care and will raise taxes on Floridians. I am very optimistic that the Supreme Court will declare it unconstitutional, but if not, it needs to be repealed."
With national polls showing more Americans want to repeal the law than keep it, and the GOP rank and file solidly backing overturning it, Scott has the opportunity to make another media push on an issue that should help rally more Republicans to his standard. Its an issue that should be in Scotts wheelhouse with his political background and years in the health care industry.
Scott faces the danger of being tuned out; every Republican worth his salt will be trying to elbow the others out of the way to weigh in on the court decision no matter how it goes. But as governor of the state that launched the challenge, and with his background, Scott should have opportunities to make his case and attempt to woo Republicans who might still have doubts about him. Scotts handlers will have to figure out how to keep those Republicans behind their man, but they have more than two years to work on that. If Scott wants a second term, he needs to secure his Republican base before he can reach out to other voters -- and playing up his opposition to the health-care law offers a good opportunity to shore up his support in the GOP.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
