With all the flap over Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist's rogue fan at Wednesday night's debate with Republican Gov. Rick Scott, Scott missed an opportunity to vaunt his record while in office, GOP political strategist Ed Pozzuoli said Thursday on
Newsmax TV's "America's Forum."
"Gov. Scott has a great record," Pozzuoli said. "He's got a fabulous record. Unemployment is down, we've got a great economy going. I mean compared to what Charlie Crist left Florida with and handed off to Rick Scott, the economy is a complete turnaround. We lost an opportunity to spell out all of Rick Scott's accomplishments and put them against the do-nothing administration of Charlie Crist. The story is solely focused on the fan."
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The Sunshine State has thrived economically under Scott's tutelage, according to Pozzuoli, something that has become buried in the controversy. Scott has delivered on his promise to bring jobs to Florida.
"He doesn't deserve all the credit, he's simply the governor, but he has allowed for an atmosphere that business has been able to both relocate from out of state and offer up additional jobs like Hertz is an example, allow business who are here to grow.
"What we're enjoying from an economy standpoint is, remember, unemployment was 11.1, 11.2 percent. Now it's about 6 percent. That's a huge difference."
Scott, he added, has a "super record of getting the state out of the way of business."
"Unnecessary regulations, faster and more efficient permitting, allowing business to grow, allowing small business in the state of Florida to hire new people without burdening them with additional regulations and things that weighed down employment. People need to understand that. That's why we're having such a renaissance in our economy. More people came to Florida from a tourist standpoint than ever before last year and a large part because of the atmosphere here, again, and they're staying here."
Furthermore, he said, the fan drama muffled discussion of other important issues such as gay marriage, Florida's "stand your ground" law, education, the environment and rising utility costs as well as Crist's record of flip-flopping on nearly every issue.
Scott argued that he supports "traditional marriage" while Crist said he thinks Florida's ban on it constitutes discrimination. Crist wants to increase Florida's minimum wage. Scott does not. Crist wants to do away with the controversial "Stand Your Ground" law, while Scott said it should stay on the books.
"The legacy of this debate, sorry to say, will be the fan controversy," he said.
One of the fan's greatest upstagings, according to Pozzuoli, was that Scott lost the chance to shine on a spotlight on how Crist has
"flip-flopped" on practically every issue.
"Gov. Scott had an opportunity to call statewide, call out Charlie Crist for flipping on virtually every issue of vital importance," he said. "He once took the position as a Ronald Reagan Republican, as a Jeb Bush Republican, and now he's running to the left of President Obama. I mean he's the only politician in the country running to the left of President Obama and frankly the fan is overshadowing that fact."
Scott, he added, has worked for Floridians every day since being elected, while
Crist spent his four years in office trying to position himself for a national seat.
"He first tried to position himself to run as vice president with John McCain. That took six, eight months. Then, a couple months later he took two years running for the U.S. Senate. Flat out wrong."
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