It was a little over a week ago last that self-proclaimed anarchist Cara Jennings made headlines for her vicious encounter with Gov. Rick Scott at a Gainesville Starbucks, catapulting her way into national headlines. News outlets like Vice lauded Jennings for her rant where she called Scott an “a**hole.” The Miami New Times deemed Jennings a “Florida Hero.”
The YouTube video of the incident went viral, racking up over 2 million views as of this article’s publishing.
When it came time to support Jennings in a march in front of the Capitol in Tallahassee on Thursday, though, the turnout was less than viral.
Reporters vastly outnumbered regular attendees, and only six people showed up -- two people (one of whom was the event organizer) -- and six members of the media.
A former Lake Worth City Commissioner, Jennings is no stranger to political controversy. In 2005, she organized a protest where environmentalists dumped rotten oranges in Palm Beach County development board offices in protest of Scripps Research Institute building a campus on top of a former orange grove in Palm Beach County.
In 2009, police arrested Jennings for protesting in front of the Israeli Consulate in Miami.
The march’s organizer, Frank Day, a Vietnam veteran and a handyman, blamed the poor turnout on the weather forecast. He was joined by one other attendee, Fred Williams, a retired state worker for the Department of Health.
Day said he organized the rally to support Jennings, explaining Floridians should “expect more” from their governor.
Day was also upset about Scott’s abrupt departure from the coffee shop.
"The basic responsibility for an elected official is to engage citizens in a conversation and not walk out of the room," Day told the Tallahassee Democrat.
Williams agreed with Day and said Jennings showed Scott’s true colors.
"This lady has shown that she is so on target with this governor not caring about anybody,” Williams said.
Democrats seized the opportunity to fundraise off of Jennings’ biting exchange with the governor, and members of the media pounced on the story, with hundreds of outlets reporting the original incident.
In response, the governor’s political action committee launched an attack ad against Jennings, recounting the incident with the “terribly rude woman,” and calling her a “latte liberal.” The ad primarily focused on job creation in the Gainesville area and statewide, saying almost everybody has a job in Florida except those in coffee shops demanding public assistance.
Like many viral trends, though, Thursday’s low turnout for the rally in support of Jennings seems to indicate the media is more focused on the drama than the public, at least by a three-to-one ratio.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
