As the two sides continue to battle and maneuver for position, the 2014 Florida gubernatorial race is increasingly being fought online with Democrats and Republicans relying on websites to launch attacks against their opponents.
On Monday, the Florida Democratic Party unveiled a new website, insisting Gov. Rick Scott is hurting the Sunshine State. The site hammers Scotts record in the private sector and his three-year tenure in Tallahassee.
Rick Scott defrauded taxpayers, making hundreds of millions of dollars while his health care corporation was forced to pay $1.7 billion to settle the case -- the largest Medicaid fraud settlement in U.S. history," the site notes. The site also looks to define Scott as Floridas tea party governor.
The Florida Democrats went on the attack against Scott as they debuted the site on Monday.
This website will show voters how Rick Scott is working against Florida families, said Joshua Karp, a spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party, on Monday. Before Rick Scott was governor, his company defrauded taxpayers and he made hundreds of millions of dollars. When federal investigators asked questions, Rick Scott pled the Fifth 75 times, and his company was sued for billions. As Floridas governor, he has slashed public schools and colleges while hiding public records and enriching his wealthy campaign donors.
His whole career, Rick Scotts priorities have been about taking care of himself and his friends, regardless of the rules, Karp insisted. Thats what hes doing as governor.
But the Republicans are running similar websites, bashing former Gov. Charlie Crist, Scotts likely Democratic opponent in 2014. Despite spending most of his political career as a Republican, Crist left the GOP in 2010 and joined the Democrats at the end of 2014.
At the start of last month, the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) relaunched www.CharlieForFlorida.com to bash Crist as he entered the 2014 contest.
Throughout Charlie Crists campaign, www.CharlieForFlorida.com will be dedicated to setting the record straight, using Charlie Crists own words and those of other Republicans and Democrats, the RPOF insisted when the site was launched in early November.
The site hammers Crist on a host of fronts but focuses on his support of President Barack Obamas federal health-care law. Like the Democrats new site, www.CharlieForFlorida.com also contains Web videos attacking the rival candidate.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com.
