Video: Bill and Rick's awkward encounter

So who doesn't want to debate in Florida's GOP Republican primary for governor -- Bill McCollum or Rick Scott? How 'bout both. Check out this chance encounter...

GOP gov candidates avoid tarmac smackdown

Don't let the heat at Tampa International fool you.

It was downright icy a few moments ago when Bill McCollum and Rick Scott's paths crossed. Scott walked by McCollum without a word. McCollum, flying to Orlando, didn't look at Scott, who was flying to West Palm Beach.

-- Marc Caputo

'Burger Bill' McCollum at Five Guys in Tampa

The current governor is famous for not eating during the day, but that's not a problem for Bill McCollum. The Republican candidate for governor feasted on a burger and fries for lunch Monday at Five Guys on West Kennedy Boulevard in Tampa.

It wasn't a big crowd -- five guys and maybe five or 10 women -- and they donned Team McCollum T-shirts and formed a backdrop while the candidate fielded questions.

"Polls are all over the place, but the most credible polls have us up between four and 10 points. I'm pleased with that," McCollum said. He agreed with the observation that GOP voters, disgusted by the tone of the primary, are ready for it to end, and he said he can unify Republicans, even if 42 or 44 percent of them cast ballots for Rick Scott.

In the McCollum camp, signs are abundant that a Scott victory Tuesday would make it difficult to unify the Republicans in November. Angela Panezze, 33, a Hillsborough GOP activist who does health care marketing, says she can't support Scott. "If it comes down to it, I've got to say that I probably would vote for Alex Sink," she said.

Afterward, McCollum waved signs and dodged raindrops at the corner of West Kennedy and Dale Mabry. Rick Scott was doing the same a couple of miles north.

-- Steve Bousquet

Push back on McCollum's AZ-style immigration bill

Memo to wanna-be Republican Gov. Bill McCollum: Expect resistance to your proposed crackdown on illegal immigration in Florida.

That was the message during a phone call with a group of civil rights leaders, clergy and Hispanic and black lawmakers, who say there's no place in a non-border state like Florida for an Arizona-style law requiring local police to question suspected illegal immigrants.

State lawmakers on the call included Republicans Steve Bovo and Juan Zapata, and Democrats Gary Siplin and Tony Hill.

Siplin, chairman of the Florida Conference of Black State Legislators, said the bill would have an "adverse economic impact on tourism" and infringe on civil rights.

Bovo said, "If this debate is a genuine debate with regards to security, I'm well-versed to engage in that debate. If this debate is another vile cover for bigotry and simply for political purposes, I must be honest and share that I'll be greatly disappointed."

Mike Pheneger, chairman of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said the bill "panders to our fears and our worst instincts as a people" and that the ACLU would take "immediate legal action."

Did Bill McCollum flip flop on abortion? Probably not.

In the final stretch of the Republican race for governor, every nuance, every utterance and every snippet ever spoken by Bill McCollum, Rick Scott and their surrogates is under the microscope. And nothing receives the attention like abortion and other life issues.

Take the flap over McCollum telling the Christian Coalition et all that he doesn't support abortion, even in cases of rape or incest. The Scott folks pounced this morning, noting that McCollum said "McCollum is on the record with the Orlando Sentinel saying that he does not support taxpayer funding of abortions except 'in circumstances where the mother's life or health is at risk or in cases of rape or incest.' "

Not quite. The blog in question refers to a letter McCollum wrote governor Charlie Crist, urging him to sign legislation regarding sonograms and abortion. (Crist vetoed it). In his letter, McCollum outlines three reasons to sign the bill. Reason number 2 is what's in question:

Second, the bill prohibits taxpayer-funded abortions. The bill specifically prohibits health insurance purchased through an exchange with any state or federal funds from providing coverage for an abortion unless it is performed to save the life of health of the mother or in cases of rape or incest.

It looks as if McCollum is explaining what the bill does. He's not saying he supports the bill because of the rape-or-incest clause. He's saying he supports it because it prohibits taxpayer-funded abortions. Since the Christian Coalition of Florida and associated groups are in McCollum's camp, we asked Florida Right to Life what they thought.

Matt Ozolnieks, chairman of the group's PAC, said a review of their records back to 2004 shows McCollum has been consistent on the issue. What about Scott? Ozolnieks said he's strong on "life issues" as well. "we have two strong pro-life candidates," he said. What about the Christian Coalition voter guide, which went out of its way to question Scott's abortion stances by noting that some abortions might have been performed at some of the 343 Columbia/HCA hospitals he controlled in the 1990s.

"On further investigation, it turns out that has been blown out of proportion," Ozolnieks said. "He pushed for conscience clauses, which puts him in a prolife position."

Scott does think abortion should be permitted in rape-or-incest cases. So why is his campaign raising the alleged McCollum flip flop in the first place? Because McCollum has done at least two reversals this campaign season: 1) on supporting an AZ-style immigration law and 2) supporting embryonic stem cell research. McCollum in 2004 said he supported the research on fertility-clinic embryos that would otherwise be destroyed. This year, he said he never said that. But then earlier this month, he said he did change his position.

Rick Scott: John Thrasher's 'biased,' ruling like Jim Greer

Rick Scott isn’t just running against fellow Republican Bill McCollum any more. Over the past few weeks, the political outsider/multi-millionaire has ratcheted up the rhetoric to say he’s taking on the entire power structure of Tallahassee and the Republican Party of Florida.

For proof, he says, just look at the recent repeated and most recent statements of RPOF Chairman John Thrasher, who denounced Scott yesterday (again) for running an ad suggesting that McCollum knew more about now-indicted former chairman Jim Greer. Thrasher issued the statement in response to Scott's questioning of RPOF finances and his decision to take out full-page newspaper ads noting a Greer-McCollum nexus. 

"Rick Scott has orchestrated a multifaceted campaign of misinformation in an effort to mislead Florida voters and confuse the facts surrounding the arrest and indictment of Jim Greer as well as the Party’s financial situation and preparedness to support our candidates," Thrasher said in an email yesterday.

Though Thrasher said he’s neutral in the race, Scott doesn’t buy it and he’s now making Thrasher out to be more of a successor to Greer’s legacy, rather than a usurper of his allegedly corrupt former predecessor, Greer, who got Thrasher et al to initially sign a golden-parachute severance agreement.

“Clearly, he’s biased,” Scott said. “Clearly, it’s all been orchestrated. That started with Jim Greer – it’s all been orchestrated that Bill McCollum will be the candidate. They didn’t want to have a primary….

“The information that we put out is absolutely true. You go look at the facts. They’re all there, whether they like it or not. So it’s a mistake that the party chairman would be biased and take a position on this when he knows the facts are absolutely true.”

Q: Do you think Thrasher’s being motivated by the special interests you mention on the campaign trail and who fund the RPOF?

Scott: “I don’t know what it is. I think it’s disappointing the party didn’t allow a primary. It started with Jim Greer trying to clear the field for both Charlie Crist and Bill McCollum. And it’s disappointing.”

Do you not trust Thrasher? Is that why you didn’t agree to fundraise for the party and have it help run parts of your campaign?

Not so fast, Rick. Q Poll says McCollum on top. But barely

So much for the big lead in today's PPP poll. In Quinnipiac's survey, Republican Rick Scott trails Attorney General Bill McCollum by 4 percentage points (39-35) in the Republican governor's race. But, as with PPP, the Q Poll finds that Kendrick Meek leads Jeff Greene, albeit by 10 percentage points (39-29).

Even though McCollum is ahead in this Q poll, the momentum seems to have shifted back to Scott, who was down by 9 points in last week's survey (more here). That's a 5 percentage-point drop for McCollum.

PPP blog post is here.

“With one in five GOP voters and more than one in four Democrats undecided, anything is possible, but the internals of the poll are consistent with McCollum and Meek being ahead. They are more favorably viewed than their opponents and fewer of their backers say they might change their minds,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Download Qpoll

Poll: Rick Scott leads by 7. Kendrick Meek up 24

Different day. Different poll. Different result.

And so it is with Public Policy Polling, which released a survey at midnight (why then, guys?) that shows Rick Scott leading Bill McCollum 47-40 in the Republican race for governor (a lead that's within the 5.6 percent error margin). Kendrick Meek leads Jeff Greene 51-27 in the Democratic race (a lead that's well outside the error margin)

Meek's lead isn't so much of a surprise, considering the train-wreck nature of Greene's campaign as of late (just think: a vomit-caked yacht, party girls, Mike Tyson, mortgage woes, leaky-roofed gas stations and a Palm Beach billionaire). But the Scott numbers stand out because most polls in the final days have shown McCollum leading. PPP's polls are interactive voice response (IVR) surveys, in which callers are 'interviewed' by a pre-recorded voice and cast their vote/response by pushing numbers on the phone pad. The other surveys were conducted by live callers. Which is better? We'll know more Tuesday. (More here on the whole story of polling this campaign season).

The PPP analysis is intriguing in that it says McCollum leads among seniors, but Scott is ahead with every other type of likely Republican voter (now where have we seen that observation before?). From the analysis:

If Scott does indeed end up as the GOP nominee on Tuesday night it will be because Bill McCollum couldn’t keep up with conservative voters. Scott has a 50-39 lead with them even as he trails McCollum 44-39 with moderates. There is a major divide along age lines between the two candidates with McCollum ahead by 13 points with senior citizens and Scott up by 16 points with everyone else. The older the electorate is on Tuesday the better McCollum’s chances of pulling it out will be.

Whoever emerges as the winner on Tuesday will have a lot of healing to do. Both candidates generate pretty lukewarm feelings with the party base. Scott’s favorability is 46% and McCollum’s is 38%.

The Democratic Senate primary is looking a lot less competitive as it enters the home stretch. Kendrick Meek has taken a broad lead with 51% to Jeff Greene’s 27%. Meek’s 70-9 lead with African Americans is certainly a key component of his success but he’s also up 47-37 with white voters.

Download PPP_Release_FL_8221025[1]

Christian info wars! Church yanks Christian Coalition voter guides

The Chrisitan Coalition of Florida and the Florida Family Policy Council's voter guides were just yanked from El Rey Jesus this morning after Republican Rick Scott's campaign noted that the flyers were a little biased and were produced in combination with opponent Bill McCollum's camp -- specifically, the policy council, which has endorsed McCollum and bashed Scott. More on some of the background from earlier this morning.

McCollum gets sermon on how to 'be nice'

Bill McCollum brought the right person to First Baptist Church in Jacksonville this morning: former Ark. Gov. Mike Huckabee.

The 2012 White House hopeful received a whooping (for church) standing ovation and pastor Mac Brunson, a person friend, brought him to the stage to share a few words. (By contrast, McCollum received just polite applause when he was introduced.) In his brief remarks, Huckabee didn't mention McCollum but the connection likely stuck.

The lesson of the sermon, however, did not. Brunson spoke about the hurtfulness of criticism and attacks on character. “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth,” he urged those gathered at the mega-church, citing Ephesians 4:29. “Be nice!”

Moments later, McCollum – and Huckabee, less so – went back on the attack a rally at a GOP office. McCollum scolded rival Rick Scott for trying to buy the election and lying about his own record.