Ex-Sen. Dockery: Florida GOP 'scared of Charlie Crist'

Former Republican state Sen. Paula Dockery of Lakeland says it was "kind of silly" and "dumb" that the Republican Party of Florida mounted a campaign urging that Democratic candidate for governor Nan Rich be given speaking time at last weekend's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Hollywood.

Dockery said that by promoting Nan Rich, Republicans showed their true colors.

"It looks like they're scared of Charlie Crist," Dockery said on the weekly public affairs program Florida This Week on WEDU-Channel 3 in Tampa. "They want to pump up Nan Rich, who was not getting much traction on her own ... I think it just sends the message that they're worried about Charlie Crist and it was kind of a dumb thing."

Puzzled by a Republican effort in support of a little-known Democratic candidate, Dockery said she fired off an email to party headquarters in Tallahassee, asking: "Who's your audience on this?"

-- Steve Bousquet

Gov. Scott gains ground in new statewide poll, but trails Crist by 10

Gov. Rick Scott's poll numbers are showing signs of progress, but he would still lose to former Gov. Charlie Crist by 10 points if the 2014 election were held today, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.

Still one of America's least popular governors, Scott trails Crist 47 percent  to 37 percent in a face-off between the Republican governor and his possible now-Democratic rival.

But the poll contains a glimmer of hope for Scott: Voters are closely divided in their assessment of his job performance, with 43 percent approving and 44 percent disapproving. That's a significant improvement over the previous Quinnipiac poll in March, when 36 percent of voters approved of Scott's performance and 49 percent disapproved.

The percentage of voters who have a favorable view of Scott is up to 40 percent, the highest since he took office nearly two-and-a-half years ago. But he has persistent problems with women, who favor Crist by 51 to 32 percent, and Hispanics favor Crist over Scott, 40-33 percent.

Crist's 13 percent share of Republican crossover votes is slightly higher than Scott's 8 percent share of Democrats.

Voters still say by a margin of 50 percent to 35 percent that Scott does not deserve to be re-elected, but that too is an improvement over the previous survey in March, when 55 percent said he didn't deserve a second term and 32 percent said he did.

"It is an indication of how far down Gov. Rick Scott's numbers have been that he can take some solace from a poll that finds him losing by 10 points to his predecessor in the governor's office," said Quinnipiac's Peter Brown. "In addition to cutting the deficit between himself and Crist, Scott sees his tepid job approval and favorability numbers and still-negative re-election numbers as notably improved. That doesn't mean that happy days are here again for the governor, but if he is going to make a comeback, these are the kinds of steps that would be required."

Voters have a favorable view of Crist by a margin of 48 to 31 percent. For Scott, that number is 40 percent favorable, 42  percent unfavorable.

By a margin of 47 to 44 percent, voters said Crist's switch to the Democratic Party is a positive thing, including 53 percent of independent voters. Speaking of independents, they favor Crist over Scott for governor by 45 percent to 33 percent.

The poll also shows that U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson would defeat Scott, 48-38 percent, but that Scott would defeat former Senate Democratic leader Nan Rich, 42-36 percent. Rich is one of three announced Democratic candidate for governor in 2014, and Nelson has repeatedly said he has no intention of running for governor. Quinnipiac did not ask voters about Alex Sink, the Democratic nominee in 2010 who is considering another bid.

Nelson does slightly better with independent voters against Scott (48-33 percent) than Crist.

Scott travels the state extensively claiming credit for improvements in Florida's economy, and the poll suggests that message is slowly getting through to Florida voters. One-third of them said the economy in Florida is getting better, and 14 percent said Scott deserves "a lot" of credit for that and 44 percent say he deserves "some" credit.

The bottom line: Scott's numbers were close to rock bottom and they had nowhere to go but up. The headline on Quinnipiac's news release summed it up nicely: "Gov's grades are low, but best ever."

Quinnipiac surveyed 1,176 Florida voters from June 11-16. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

-- Steve Bousquet

Amid governor's-race controversy, FL Dems boast they'll still whip Rick Scott

@MarcACaputo

              Florida Democrats’ best candidate for governor right now isn’t a candidate and wasn’t always one of them.

And party leaders caused a stir by snubbing a longtime candidate and party stalwart.

But when the elites of the Florida Democratic Party met Saturday for their annual fund-raising gala, they suggested none of that was really a big problem for one big reason: Rick Scott.

The unpopular Republican governor looks like an easy target for an incumbent.

“Whoever the Democratic nominee is will beat Rick Scott,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. “We will win the governor’s mansion next November. There’s not any question.”

Even before the Jefferson-Jackson dinner began, Florida Democratic Party leaders said it was a success, bringing in a record $850,000.

More here

"Chicken Charlie" Crist draws fire in gun-control web video

@MarcACaputo

As former Gov. Charlie Crist appears ready to announce a bid for his old job, the Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat has a target on his back for his old positions.

Especially guns.

Once A-rated by the NRA, Crist no longer will be. The gun lobby will back Gov. Rick Scott. But Crist also appears to be taking fire from progressives, including this new group, gutsorguns.com, that just posted this "Chicken Charlie" video:

 

After posting this, we got the press release:

With FL unemployment-rate falling, RPOF touts "Scott Surge vs. Dem Drag."

@MarcACaputo

Put aside the debate about how much a governor or president affects the unemployment rate and know this: It doesn't always matter when it comes to elections.

If times are good, the guy at the top of the ticket benefits. If times are bad, he pays.

Times in Florida are mixed, with an estimated 680,426 Floridians unemployed (the peak appears to be Feb. 2010: 1,040,578).

But the unemployment rate is dropping fast in Florida, the second-fastest in the nation (a 3.9% reduction between December 2010 and April 2013), as the Republican Party of Florida points out in a new graphic that seeks to credit Gov. Rick Scott, who's up for reeleciton next year. The one-page info-graphic that not only touts the gains under Scott, it also suggests that Democratic states just aren't as good at managing their economies.

Unemployment-rate drops aren't the whole picture, of course. In April, for instance, Nevada posted the biggest drop but still had the highest unemployment rate in the nation (9.6%).

Democrats are sure to point out that the unemployment rates in the solidly blue states of Vermont (4%) or Massachusetts (6.4%) is actually lower than in Florida (7.2%). But Republicans will point out that the unemployment rates in the solidly red states of Nebraska (3.7%) and North Dakota (3.3%) are the lowest in the nation. Yes, those unemployment rates are tied to the shale-oil boom.

And then there's the debate about how much credit or blame President Obama gets for the general nationwide drop.

So on it goes...

Liberal group bashes Charlie Crist's NRA A-rating, lauds Fs of Nan Rich, Alex Sink

@MarcACaputo

Florida's fertile ground for the National Rifle Association, and the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida has a problem with that and wants to make gun control a Democratic gubernatorial primary issue in 2014.

Nan Rich is running. Charlie Crist probably will and Alex Sink probably won't (caveat: you never know).

The press release

TAMPA, FL – In response to a spate of recent shootings and the ongoing Treyvon Martin case, the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida issued a report that examines the voting records, statements and endorsements of former Senator Nan Rich, the only announced Democratic candidate, former Governor Charlie Crist and former CFO Alex Sink, who ran for the seat in 2010.

Why the Florida Democratic Party, and Charlie Crist, need Nan Rich

@MarcACaputo

The Florida Democratic Party knows it needs Nan Rich.

And, perhaps, so does former Gov. Charlie Crist, who could face her in next year’s Democratic primary for governor if he decides to run against her.

A long-shot for governor, Rich’s background is an inverse of Crist’s: a committed liberal and a longtime Democrat, but a virtual unknown. Rich, a former Democratic leader in the state Senate, represented Weston until 2012.

If Crist runs, which looks likely, the Republican-turned-independent-turned Democrat will have to face her in a 2014 primary where only registered Democrats can vote.

What Charlie Crist said at Miami lunch before flip-flopping to support gay marriage

@SteveRothaus

Charlie Crist, rumored to be running as a Democrat for Florida governor, has come out in favor of gay marriage.

“I most certainly support marriage equality in Florida and look forward to the day it happens here,” Crist quietly announced Wednesday night on his Facebook page, hours after Delaware became the 11th state to legalize gay marriage.

Crist, formerly a Republican governor, apparently has evolved since the last time he ran for public office in 2010. During the GOP primary campaign against Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate, Crist told CNN he supported a constitutional ban against marriage equality.

Rick Scott's Obama shuffle: Sequestration is bad (this time because of hurricanes)

@MarcACaputo with @cmorganherald

Florida Gov. Rick Scott continued his political evolution Wednesday in opposing conservative-sought budget cuts -- this time because of hurricane preparedness.

Scott's made his comments during the Governor's Hurricane Conference in Fort Lauderdale where he wondered if the National Guard would have the money and the manpower to help the state recover from a disaster. Under the federal budget cuts, known as "sequestration," guard members could be furloughed, improperly trained or both.

“My biggest concern is that while they say sequestration will stop during a disaster, are they going to be ready in the meantime?” Scott asked.

Crist works a crowd of North Florida Democrats

He says he's not a candidate for governor -- not yet anyway. But Charlie Crist sure looked like one Friday.

"I'm seriously considering it," Crist said. "I just think Florida needs to be on a better track, and I think she will be."

In  his quest to discover how receptive grass-roots Democrats are to him, the former governor worked a crowd of several hundred Democrats in Tallahassee, one of the state's most reliably liberal areas. The occasion was a wild game dinner hosted by Jackie Pons, the elected Leon County school superintendent and long-time friend of Crist's.

Pons, a popular former high school basketball coach, had organized a rally on the day Crist infuriated many Republicans in 2010 by vetoing a controversial bill that would have tied teacher pay to student test
scores. Crist also was a featured speaker at a well-attended 2011 Pons fund-raiser in the superintendent's last race.

Crist brushed off a reporter's query about being a target-rich candidate who will be hammered with hard-hitting ads over his past flip-flops, his evolution from Republican to independent to Democrat, and his record as governor. "You're way ahead of me," Crist said. At a photographer's prompting, he gleefully took out his wallet and displayed a Democratic voter registration card. "Here it is," he said. "I'm very proud of that."

The consummate retail politician, Crist thoroughly worked a room filled with educators and posed for dozens of pictures. Among the faces in the crowd: former Sen. Al Lawson, former Rep. Curtis Richardson, lobbyists Fred Dickinson, Ron Meyer, Juhan Mixon and Steve Uhlfelder, businessman David Rancourt, lawyer Mark Logan. Most who were there were showing support for Pons, who led a successful campaign to renew a half-penny sales tax for schools last fall; Crist's appearance caught many by surprise.

Accompanying Crist in the role of travel aide was his friend Greg Truax of Tampa. It was Crist's third recent appearance at Democratic grass-roots events; the others were in Bradenton and Fort Myers.

"You have no idea how comfortable it is to be a Democrat," Crist said.

-- Steve Bousquet