The Republican Governor's Association, which backed Bill McCollum in Florida, issued a clipped statement that didn't even congratulate Rick Scott. "Intraparty struggles are often difficult to watch, and the contest in Florida has been a good example of that. That said, the primary is over, Rick Scott is the nominee, the general election has begun, and our party now looks forward."
Hardly a ringing endorsement.
Leave it to the controversial chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele, to step up for Scott. "Rick Scott is a strong conservative candidate for Governor, who will no doubt be victorious against liberal Democrat Alex Sink, who has supported President Obama in everything from his government takeover of health care to his failed $862 billion stimulus."
This comes only a few minutes after Bill McCollum addressed supporters and did not concede the race. Scott to speak to his supporters in five minutes.
Check out the reaction from the Republican Governors Association:
“Intraparty struggles are often difficult to watch, and the contest in Florida has been a good example of that. That said, the primary is over, Rick Scott is the nominee, the general election has begun, and our party now looks forward.
“Alex Sink has had months to run in a clear field and has not gained any traction, showing that her message has failed to connect with voters. She represents the policies of Washington, D.C. Democrats: higher taxes, runaway spending and greater intrusion into the everyday lives of Floridians.
“Couple her flagging campaign with the legitimate candidacy of Bud Chiles, and there is a real battle being waged for Democratic votes in Florida.”
A planned unity rally for Republicans tomorrow morning has been
scrapped, according to Republican Party of Florida spokeswoman Katie
Betta. She maintained that the issue is not with a lack of unity or any
hurt feelings between Bill McCollum and Rick Scott. (Bad blood with those two? Nah.... What's $70 million in attack ads between friends?)
Nope, Betta said it's simply an issue of coordinating several
statewide candidates on short notice when they are stationed from
Pensacola to South Florida for Election Day watch parties. "Logistically
it wasn’t something that was going to work out," Betta said.
(It also didn't help that AG candidates Pam Bondi and Jeff Kottkamp don't seem to have much love lost for each other.)
RPOF will hold a Sept. 10 fundraiser featuring Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and the party's slate of general election candidates.
Armed with a bullhorn and shouting "release the deposition," a Bill McCollum supporter interrupted a presser by Rick Scott just before he cast his ballot on Election Day at St. Ann's Catholic Church in Naples. The anonymous young man, dressed in a doctor outfit, would only say his name is "Doctor Dave." He has stalked Scott around the state to raise awareness about a deposition Scott gave in a case involving a chain of walk-in clinics, Solantic. The deposition, given six days before Scott ran for office, is sealed pursuant to a settlement agreement. Scott won't release it, saying it's a "private matter."
Problem is, that's fodder for McCollum's special-interest fueled Florida First Initiative political committee, which paid for the rental vehicle driven by Doctor Dave. It looks like he lost his partner, "Inmate 2010," who's dressed in black-and-white jail stripes.
Will Rick's voters show up?: Turnout could be a major factor in the GOP primary for governor. Rick Scott is hoping thousands of casual voters flock to the polls to oust career politicians. A lower turnout could benefit Bill McCollum, who has the party infrastructure and a stronger base of supporters. A win by Scott tomorrow would set the GOP establishment on fire -- it would likely end McCollum’s political career and put his supporters on the spot over who they will back in November. Or how many people sick with the fight will pick third-wheel Mike McCalister?
Will Haridopolos get his candidates? A handful of key state Senate primaries could test the power of incoming President Mike Haridopolos. The Merritt Island Republican has weighed in on several races: Jim Norman over Kevin Ambler in Hillsborough’s District 12; Miguel Diaz de la Portilla over Julio Robaina in Miami’s District 36; Ellyn Bogdanoff over Carl Domino in District 25 in Palm Beach; and Lizbeth Benacquisto over Sharon Merchant in the sprawling Fort Myers-to-Palm Beach District 27. The winners in the two Palm Beach seats face tougher races in November, while the other two primary winners will likely capture a Senate seat tomorrow evening.
Will the Greer/GOP-spending scandal hurt candidates? Former GOP Chairman Jim Greer is gone but his connections to candidates and the party’s legacy of spending on credit cards remains. In Pasco County, former Marco Rubio aide Richard Corcoran is getting reminded of his party credit card spending in his state House race (HD45). And in Seminole County, House candidate Jason Brodeur still thinks Jim Greer is the “bees knees.” Will it hurt him?
Florida Republican Chairman John Thrasher sent a message to party faithful titled "Rick Scott" on Sunday night, blasting him (again) for invoking the Jim Greer scandal in the campaign. (See his message below.)
Scott's
camp sought to respond, but the party refused to send the message,
which says "denying the facts to paint a better picture of Bill McCollum is the wrong way to do it." (Read the whole thing here.)
Party spokeswoman Katie Betta
explained the party routinely sends campaign emails to its list. But it
also reserves the right to reject those "that contain personal or
otherwise inappropriate attacks towards other Republicans." As for the
email from Thrasher, which contained some choice words, Betta said the
chairman can send what he wants.
Rick Scott is predicting a monster turnout -- 1.7 million voters -- for tomorrow's primary election. Of course, it would be in Scott's interest if hordes of new voters stormed polling places to rage against the political machine. As Scott strategist Tony Fabrizio notes in his statement below, early voting an absentee ballots are up -- but will that translate to overall increased turnout? Stay tuned...
“Given that as of Saturday, August 21st nearly 520,000 Florida Republicans have already voted by absentee or early vote, we expect overall turnout of at least 1.7 million in the Florida Republican gubernatorial primary,” Fabrizio said. “This would represent roughly 41% of registered Republicans, a 70% increase over the 2006 gubernatorial primary. This is consistent with the increased turnout we have seen in Republican primaries across the country where outsiders have shocked the establishment candidates.”
Facing only token opposition in her primary, Democrat Alex Sink is expected to emerge victorious Tuesday but with one big problem: in her quest to become governor, she is unknown to half of Florida's voters.
Meanwhile, a barrage of television ads in the high-profile Republican primary has given her competitors — Attorney General Bill McCollum and Naples businessman Rick Scott — plenty of name recognition. It's also given her plenty of ammunition to use against them in the November general election.
Sink's challenge now is to define herself as a candidate, and explain to voters what she wants to do in office -- or her competitors will, say pollsters and political observers.
"When you're not known, nobody knows what you're for or against," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. More here.
