By all accounts, the Republican primary gubernatorial battle was a brutal, nasty fight between Florida State Attorney General Bill McCollum and multimillionaire businessman and political newcomer Rick Scott. Negative ads and accusations flew between the two parties as the race grew more and more heated. McCollum made a huge political miscalculation early in the race when he publicly condemned Arizona’s tough new immigration law, allowing Scott to seize the momentum.
McCollum quickly flip-flopped, uh, changed his mind, but the damage was done. McCollum never really regained his lost momentum and Scott surprised political analysts everywhere by beating the experienced politician.
I personally voted for McCollum, though it was a tough choice. McCollum’s moderate stance on immigration almost made me pull the lever for Scott. Ultimately, Scott’s questionable record as CEO of Columbia/HCA, the country’s largest hospital system, convinced me to stick with McCollum, who I deemed the safer choice. While Scott was Columbia/HCA’s CEO the company was
fined $1.7 billion for Medicare fraud, the largest such fine in history. Scott resigned due to the investigation, but was never indicted or
even questioned by authorities for the role he played.
After Scott’s victory, however, I figured conservatives would quickly bury the hatchet. After all, t
he stakes could not be higher for the approaching midterm elections. While it seems like a cliché, America really is at a crossroads. Thomas Sowell, one of our country’s greatest contemporary thinkers, believes the upcoming 2010 elections might be the most important elections we’ve ever held:
The 2010 elections are one of the most, if not the most, important elections we’ve ever held. Because if Obama doesn’t get stopped in this fall’s election, I don’t know how he’ll ever be stopped. For one thing, people talk about his falling poll numbers. He’s still in the 40% range. If he can somehow make millions of illegal immigrants legal voters before 2012, he can win a second term. That would be the point of no return. The November elections are like the battle of Poitiers or the siege of Vienna. If those battles had gone a different way, the entire history of the world would have been different. In the November elections, this country will be at stake.
With such important principles at stake, I thought conservatives would unite around Scott. I was wrong. Following the election I was dismayed by friends and family who expressed reservations about Scott and stated they were not sure if they could vote for “a crook” or a “shady businessman.” The day after the primary election I received a mass email from a well-meaning individual linking to an article questioning Scott’s personal integrity.
With this in mind, I thought it would be prudent to remind Florida conservatives, in concrete terms, why this election matters and what’s at stake. Due to Charlie Crist’s recent betrayal, several bills working their way through the legislature that conservatives labored in Florida for years to pass were vetoed at the last second. Other major issues and bills loom just over the horizon. Here are four immediate and important reasons why Florida’s conservatives need to support and vote for Rick Scott this fall:
1) Education reform. Earlier this year, conservative education reformers were dealt a harsh blow when Gov. Crist changed course and vetoed a bill he previously supported. The bill would have reined in the growing power of the teachers’ unions by factoring in students’ academic progress while evaluating a teacher’s pay raise. As the
Miami Herald reported, “
The bill would have positioned Florida as a leader in education reform statewide, with a more sweeping pay-for-performance plan that any state has managed to enact.” Former Gov. Jeb Bush said, “By taking this action, Gov. Crist has jeopardized the ability of Florida to build on the progress of the last decade.” Republican legislator have vowed to bring the bill up again next year. If Rick Scott loses the governor’s race, the bill will once again be vetoed.
2) Life. Earlier this summer, once again, Gov. Crist vetoed a bill conservatives had been laboring for years to pass.
HB 1143 required abortionists to give an ultrasound before performing an abortion and giving women the option to view it. After Crist vetoed the law, the Florida Right to Life Organization released a
statement saying Crist had vetoed the “most important pro-life, pro-woman legislation in Florida history”:
This bill did not force the woman to look at the ultrasound or force her to discuss it. But it did require the abortionist to give her the option to see the pictures and to ask questions.
This is a pro-choice bill because it gives woman the opportunity to have as much information as possible before making a choice and isn’t that what pro-choice is all about.
Of course the abortionists didn’t want this to happen because some women would change their mind about having an abortion and so this bill would hurt their business.
Scott received an “A” from the Florida Right to Life organization (as did McCollum) and has
vowed to sign this bill into law if he is governor. Alex Sink, Scott’s Democratic opponent, is pro-choice. This fall, a vote for Scott is a vote for life – quite literally.
3) Immigration. Care about illegal immigration? Want a strict anti-illegal immigration bill similar to Arizona’s sweeping reform? Then Scott’s your man. Immediately following Arizona’s passage of their immigration bill, Scott stated Florida could use a similar law.
4) Obamacare. Scott’s personal campaign against Obamacare dates back to the spring of 2009 when the entrepreneur formed the group, Conservatives for Patients’ Rights. The organization quickly launched a multimillion dollar ad campaign aimed at rallying public support the Democrats’ radical healthcare proposal. The campaign was largely funded by Scott’s own personal fortune (say what you want about the guy, but he’s not afraid to put his money where his mouth is). CPR’s ad campaign was so successful,
Politics Daily called Scott “the one man arguably most responsible for stalling the rush toward ObamaCare” last fall.
Unfortunately, the Democrats’ health care legislation passed. If the Republicans are unable to repeal the legislation after the elections of 2012, it will be up to individual states to opt out of the plan. If things remain relatively the same, Florida’s legislature will more than likely vote for the Sunshine State to remove ourselves from this abhorrent plan. The only question is if our governor will approve such a step or veto it. Which governor do you think would be more likely to approve it: the Democrat who likes the president’s health care legislation or the Republican who personally financed a multi-million dollar ad campaign to defeat the measure?
These are just four decisions Florida’s next governor will face soon after taking office. I have yet to mention the redrawing of Florida’s political districts based on the 2010 census or the myriad of other decisions our next governor will have to make. Yet, it should be clear, by looking at these four issues alone, that conservatives cannot afford to sit this race out or continue to pine for a lost candidate. The question is not whether McCollum or Scott would be a better governor anymore. The question is whether conservatives want a governor who will stand with them on important fights over education reform, illegal immigration laws, pro-life measures and standing against the federal government’s egregious abuse of power inherent in Obamacare. The answer to that should be clear. Florida’s conservatives must rally behind Scott and retake the governor’s seat.
