So Governor Rick Scott's (R. FL) latest theme for his re-election campaign is highlighting how tough on crime he is:
http://cltampa.com/...
Two years ago the GOP-led Florida Legislature voted nearly overwhelmingly in both houses (116-4) to support a bill that would have allowed low-level, non-violent inmates in Florida prisons to receive drug treatment after serving at least half of their sentence. But it was vetoed by Governor Scott, who boasted about it as he kicked off his "Let's Keep Florida Safe" tour this morning at Patrick's Uniforms off of Adamo Drive in Tampa this morning.
"I'm going to oppose any changes to the 85-percent mandatory minimum law," he told a group of reporters and well-wishers who gathered at the retail business, which provides uniforms for law enforcement and public safety employees. "Meaning if you get 10 years in prison, you're going to serve 85 percent of that time. That's part of the reason why we have a historic low in our crime rate."
At the time of that veto in 2012, Fort Lauderdale-based state Senator Ellyn Bogdanoff blasted the governor, expressing “phenomenal” disappointment about legislation that she said would ultimately save taxpayer money by helping improve the chances that inmates wouldn’t wind up back in prison.
But Scott was unrepentant, when asked about his veto by CL.
"We're at a 43-year-low in our crime rate because we have an 85-percent mandatory minimum sentencing law, and I believe in that. I've talked to law enforcement, I've talked to sheriffs, police chiefs, they agree with me, and I'm going to continue to stand up for that."
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gaultieri told CL he didn't remember the specifics of the bill, but generally supported Scott's rejection of that legislation. "I support the 85-percent rule. It's proven to be effective. It is a deterrent." But he added that inmates need to get treatment and need to be rehabilitated. "But you also have to pay your dues, and do your time."
And Gaultieri said that while some may contend that drug offenses might not be a huge issue compared to violent crimes, he said they can lead to bigger crimes. "There's other violent crime involved with that, and so I think having the 85-percent rule is a good thing." - Creative Loathing Tampa Bay, 7/7/14
Now here's something to take into account with the cops in Scott's photo op:
http://thinkprogress.org/...
The Tampa Tribune reported Monday that Scott’s Tampa “Let’s Keep Florida Safe” event at Patrick’s Uniforms featured “at least a half-dozen on-duty law officers in uniform” providing the Governor with a “backdrop of uniformed law officers.” Their presence apparently was in violation of Section 104.31 of the Florida Statutes, which explicitly prohibits any “employee of the state or any political subdivision” from participation “in any political campaign for an elective office while on duty.”
Spokesmen for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission told the paper the appearance was due to a misunderstanding, as they thought they were there for provide security or for an official (non-campaign) event.
Hillsborough Chief Deputy Sheriff José Docobo told the Tribune that the sheriff’s colonel attending the event had not expected the event to be political. “When he got back he briefed me that to his surprise it was a campaign stop as opposed to just the governor holding a press conference on crime, which is what Col. Previtera understood when he went,” he explained, adding, “Under those circumstances neither he nor the deputies would have been there. It is our policy not to attend political events in uniform or on duty.” - Think Progress, 7/8/14
Here's a little more info:
http://www.naplesnews.com/...
A spokeswoman for Scott’s campaign said campaign officials made the nature of the event clear in all invitations and announcements but some of the officers present say they didn’t get the message.
Either way, the Tampa event provided Scott with a backdrop of uniformed law officers as local TV news crews filmed him talking about reductions in crime during his administration.
“All the police departments around here were invited,” said Hillsborough sheriff’s Col. James Previtera, when asked why he and other deputies attended the event.
Previtera said some of the deputies were on duty and some weren’t. Asked whether deputies routinely participate in political events during working time, he said, “I don’t know anything about that.”
Hillsborough Sheriff’s Chief Deputy José Docobo said Previtera was unaware the gathering was a political campaign event.
“When he got back he briefed me that to his surprise it was a campaign stop as opposed to just the governor holding a press conference on crime, which is what Col. Previtera understood when he went,” Docobo said. “Under those circumstances, neither he nor the deputies would have been there. It is our policy not to attend political events in uniform or on duty.”
Craig Baker, an enforcement officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said he was on duty and attended the event at the order of his captain.
Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Wendy Purcell said Baker attended because his superiors thought the invitation was a request for an officer to assist the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which normally provides security for the governor.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, a Republican, attended the event and spoke in Scott’s favor. So did Holmes Beach Police Chief William Tokajer, who said he was attending to represent the Florida Police Chiefs Association, which endorsed Scott on Monday. - Naples News, 7/8/14
Oops! Yeah, it sounds like Scott was just using the police officers to make his campaign look tough. By the way, it's pretty ridiculous to claim that Scott has made Florida a safer place when you look at the evidence:
http://jacksonville.com/...
Gov. Rick Scott appears nearly bulletproof right now in the eyes of the National Rifle Association.
That assessment of Scott comes as the NRA notes that more pro-gun bills have been signed into law in the past four years than during any other recent single gubernatorial term. The organization sent a message to members applauding Scott for setting the record.
Since taking office in 2011, Scott has signed into law 12 gun-related measures backed by the NRA. That total is nine more than former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist approved while enjoying an equally Republican-dominated Legislature between 2007 and 2010. Crist is now running for the Democratic nomination to face Scott in the November elections.
The total number of Scott’s signings remains two fewer than those inked by former Gov. Jeb Bush, who also affixed his name to a one-year record six pro-gun and pro-hunting bills in 2006. A year earlier, Bush had signed the Stand Your Ground law. However, Bush’s overall total of 14 new pro-guns laws came during eight years as the occupant of the Governor’s Mansion.
“Governor Scott supports the Second Amendment, and works every day to ensure Florida families are kept safe,” spokesman John Tupps said in an email. “Florida is at a 43-year crime low, and Governor Scott will review any legislation that the Legislature passes and sends to his desk.”
The bills signed by Scott have ranged from the highly contentious, such as the “docs vs. Glocks” law in 2011, which restricts how doctors can talk to patients about guns and that has been on hold since being thrown out by a federal judge in 2012, to less controversial laws that reduced the fees for a new concealed carry weapon and allowed tax collectors’ offices to handle concealed-weapon license applications. - The Florida Times-Union, 7/9/14
By the way, this has resurfaced:
http://tbo.com/...
When Gov. Rick Scott ran for governor in 2010, the GOP establishment supported former Attorney General Bill McCollum.
So when Scott, a former health care executive, spent nearly $40 million of his own wealth to beat McCollum in the Republican primary, fences needed to be mended between the rookie politician and the party he now led.
Enter Adam Hollingsworth.
At the time of the 2010 primary, Hollingsworth was making $189,000-per-year as chief of staff to then-Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton.
He took a leave of absence, recruited by both the Republican Party of Florida chairman and Scott campaign manager Susie Wiles, to help fix the relationship between Scott and the party’s elite.
Hollingsworth became one of Scott’s most trusted advisers, a position he used to influence the administration’s rejection of billions in federal high-speed rail money, then later lobby for a rail project that would benefit his employer, according to emails, text messages and administration documents obtained by the Scripps/Tribune Capital Bureau. - The Tampa Tribune, 7/5/14
Speaking of All Aboard Florida:
http://www.floridatoday.com/...
A new anti-passenger rail coalition, comprised of groups from some wealthy residential communities in northern Palm Beach and Martin counties, want their concerns heard directly by Gov. Rick Scott.
Citizens Against Rail Expansion in Florida, the latest effort to oppose the renewal of passenger rail service along Florida's East Coast, sent a letter to Scott on Monday requesting a meeting on the rail plans.
The group said it questions the funding for the All Aboard Florida project and is troubled by the potential impacts to motorists, boaters and first responders by adding 32 trains a day on the Florida East Coast rails near their waterfront communities.
"Decreased property values and increased noise --- both likely fallouts of these rail projects --- are also concerns, and again cut to the heart and soul of our basic concern: quality of life," the letter said. - Florida Today, 7/8/14
A lot is at stake in this race and Florida Democrats are getting ready to take on Scott:
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/...
Allison Tant, chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, doesn't have an easy job.
Even though most of the state's registered voters are Democrats, Tant's party doesn't control any of the statewide elected offices, the congressional delegation or either chamber of the state Legislature.
And her party's best prospect for 2014 is gubernatorial Charlie Crist — a relative newcomer to the party who was elected governor as a Republican in 2006.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, strongly pushed for Tant, a former Tallahassee lobbyist, to get the state job, which she won in a party election in January 2013.
Much of Tant's job involves raising money, and last weekend's Leadership Blue fundraising dinner in Hollywood attracted a record crowd of more than 1,500 and raised a record $1.1 million.
"We are fired up and ready to win," Tant said. "We are ready to beat Rick Scott." - Sun Sentinel, 7/6/14
Of course Charlie Crist (D. FL) has to weather Scott's ad blitz:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/...
Two of the biggest takeaways for Democrats from 2010 were that Scott's early spending spree helped define Sink and gave him an advantage later on. The cash vacuum left by the state's sprawling and diverse media landscape left too little funding for field and voter-turnout operations—particularly in heavily Democratic and Hispanic South Florida—that are widely recognized as crucial for Democrats in low-turnout midterm-election years.
Former Obama state director and Crist adviser Steve Schale half-jokingly speculated, "They have more press staffers than we have staffers total."
Since Scott began his media deluge in early March, polls have shown a tightening race. Scott trailed Crist by an average of 10 points in 2013, but the most recent automated survey from WFLA-TV/SurveyUSA had Scott edging Crist 45-43 percent. In a memo sent to campaign donors Tuesday and obtained by National Journal, Scott Deputy Campaign Manager Tim Saler expressed confidence the campaign's early ad blitz is having its desired effect.
Saler wrote: "In June, the governor locked in his lead—a year after being down 10 points. With today's survey from WFLA in Tampa, the governor has either led or been within the margin of error in 11 consecutive public polls."
Scott ad maker Joanna Burgos of OnMessage said, "We've had very effective advertising that's brought Charlie's negatives up. Our goal right now is to remind voters of what life was like under Charlie Crist—high unemployment, low education funding, and high debt."
Democrats are well aware of the challenge that confronts them. In an interview with The Atlantic in March, Crist acknowledged the financial threat posed by Scott, and used it to discredit the idea his comeback bid is solely about personal ambition. "Yeah, this is a delightful opportunity, to run into a $100 million buzz saw face-first. That's a joyous thought, right?"
Schale compared the impact of Scott's early advertising to competition between two known brands. "If Pepsi stopped advertising tomorrow, Coke sales might go up," Schale said, but added, "Alex started that race with 20 to 30 percent name ID. Rick Scott was able to build an entire narrative from scratch. He was able to define her in a way that you can't define Charlie Crist because he has a brand."
Florida Democratic Party spokesman Josh Karp agreed. "Scott's numbers are still in the low 40s, they haven't moved. He's spent $15 million and it hasn't improved his numbers at all," Karp said. "We knew going into this that he'd be able spend more money, but at a certain point there are diminishing returns with negative TV ads. And negative ads won't make folks trust Rick Scott."
Schale said, "Crist will have a robust operation on TV and on the ground, much more than Sink did, God bless her."
Democrats are also looking toward other fundamentals as Crist's saving grace, including Scott's general unpopularity and low approval ratings, and the state's continuously expanding Hispanic and African-American populations, with most of them registering as Democrats.
Schale believes demographic shifts will push Crist over the finish line in a close race. In 2010, Sink lost by roughly 65,550 votes out of more than 5.3 million cast, while President Obama won the state by just over 74,300 votes in 2012. Hispanics made up 11 percent of the electorate in 2010; Schale is predicting 12 percent in 2014. African-American voters accounted for 11 percent of all voters in 2010, and Schale is calculating 12 percent this year.
Relative to most 2014 Senate battlegrounds, Florida's demographic composition more closely mirrors the one that will shape the national debate ahead of the next presidential election, and as such, it's not unreasonable to expect more attention to the South in the coming months, particularly if Crist doesn't reemerge in the polls. - National Journal, 7/9/14
Crist and Florida Democrats know the demographics are changing and they're working hard to win over a key constituency:
http://www.miamiherald.com/...
When Charlie Crist went to Miami's Little Havana recently, the Democratic candidate for governor stood before a crowd and said what few politicians have in decades of scrounging for votes in the Cuban-American neighborhood: End the trade embargo against Cuba.
"If you really care about people on the island, we need to get rid of the embargo and let freedom reign," he said, shouting above a small band of protesters who responded with chants of "Shame on you!"
Crist's supporters cheered louder.
It was a scene inconceivable just a few years ago, when politicians were careful about what they said on the issue, for fear of alienating Cuban-American voters, many of whom fled Fidel Castro's Cuba in the 1960s.
But Democrats now sense an opening with newer Cuban arrivals and second-generation Cuban-Americans who favor resuming diplomatic relations with the communist island.
In a sign of just how much the climate has shifted, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, who backed trade limits when she ran for president in 2008, is now calling for the embargo to be lifted. She described it as "Castro's best friend" and said it hampers "our broader agenda across Latin America."
Her words mark the first time a leading presidential contender from either political party has suggested reversing the 52-year-old policy.
The efforts represent the largest challenge to Cuban-American orthodoxy in decades and could help reshape American foreign policy.
It also could alter the political landscape in the largest swing-voting state, where Republicans long have dominated the Cuban vote by taking a hard line on the embargo.
Crist's campaign will be the first statewide test of whether the trade restrictions are still a live wire for politicians in Florida, home to 70 percent of the nation's Cubans. - Miami Herald, 7/5/14
This is a tight race but we can still win. Click here to donate and get involved with Crist's campaign:
http://www.charliecrist.com/