[ad_1]
Three decades after Democratic governor Bob Graham became the last opponent to defeat an outgoing senator in Florida, Republican Rick Scott's attempt to return the favor is proving harder than expected.
Scott leaves the governor's house after two terms – perhaps the best choice for overthrowing a sitting senator, whose responsibilities and achievements are by definition far more vague than those of the state director general.
And Democrat Bill Nelson seemed a relatively easy target. The former Commissioner of Insurance and, before that, a congressman had never played a leading role in Washington. After three full terms as a senator, his biggest claim to fame remains his orbiting a NASA shuttle in 1986 while he was still in the House.
Despite this, Scott appears to be at best tied with Nelson in the polls five weeks before polling day, despite a huge financial advantage that allowed him to start broadcasting TV commercials months before Nelson and his allies could start disseminate them.
"Times have definitely changed since his first appointment as governor," said Aubrey Jewett, a professor of political science at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
Scott carried the tide of wrath of the Tea Party against President Barack Obama in 2010, then again in 2014, to win small victories, despite his own unpopularity.
This year, even with better ratings, Scott's main problem is the one he shares with most Republicans: his political ally at the Oval Office, President Donald Trump, whose words and behavior prompted Democrats and many independents to vote against Republicans.
Added to that are three Florida-specific problems that seem to hurt Scott even though they helped him in previous years.
Eight years ago, Scott had focused his campaign on opposition to the Obama Affordable Care Act and, as governor, had refused to participate in the expansion of the Medicaid law in Florida. In a debate with Nelson on Tuesday, Scott reflected the position of many Republicans across the country who are now changing positions on the law. "We need to make sure that we take care of people with pre-existing diseases," he said, even though Florida is among the states that are filing lawsuits to protect the pre-existing conditions of the ACA. canceled.
As governor, Scott also signed all the draft laws in favor of gun rights from the state legislature in favor of the National Rifle Association, including a bill to punish the doctors who interrogated patients on their access to firearms. This trend changed only this year after 14 students and three staff members were shot dead by a former student with an assault rifle at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida. Scott, who was already in the Senate, lobbied for a law that provided for modest limits for gun owners. "In the three weeks following the Parkland shootout, we passed a comprehensive bill," said Scott in Tuesday's debate – to which Nelson responded: "My opponent got an A-plus rating from from the NRA. "
But while the battle around Obamacare has dragged on over the years and the Parkland shooting took place eight months ago, Scott's biggest concern could be the two ecological disasters of the Red Tide and the Blue-green algae, which continue to torment residents and visitors – ironically – some of the most heavily Republican counties in the state.
The red tide is responsible for the deaths of millions of fish, sea turtles and dolphins, while algae obstruct the waterways of Lake Okeechobee in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Some researchers believe that the proliferation of algae – caused by excessive consumption of fertilizer, cow manure and septic leakage leaking into the lake – exacerbates the bacterial red tide.
"Most political issues are abstract," Jewett said. "The problem of the red tide and toxic blue-green algae is on the contrary. It's literally in your face and in your eyes and in your wallet. "
Scott's problem is that he has reduced budgets and posts in the Department of Environmental Protection and in the state's water management districts, while significantly reducing the emphasis on application of pollution standards. As a result, nutrient levels that had begun to decline under the two previous Republican governors began to increase under Scott's supervision.
"His record is very clear on the environment," said Nelson during the debate.
Although Scott has tried to blame Nelson for the water quality problem of not having made more federal money to solve it, this argument may not appeal to voters, the University's political scientist said. Florida, Daniel Smith.
"It does not help Rick Scott. He had eight years to solve this problem, "he said.
Smith added that while Republican voters in Fort Myers on the southwest coast or Stuart across the state did not generally vote for Nelson, they risked not voting in the Senate vote. "Or they might not vote at all," he said.
If this is not the case, and Nelson wins a close race and a fourth six-year term in spite of Scott's many benefits, it will be his third stroke of luck at the time of re-election.
In 2006, Nelson had participated in a Republican-style mid-term election year, but this wave had been a Democratic one because of anger against President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq. Nelson also inspired his opponent Katherine Harris, the former secretary of state whom the Democrats despised because of his role in Bush's Florida victory in the contested 2000 elections.
Six years later, Republicans named Connie Mack IV, a Fort Lauderdale area congressman, whose history of minor scandals – from bar fights to road rage incidents – made him relatively easy to beat.
"For Bill Nelson, the winds of reelection have always been favorable," said Adam Goodman, a long-time Republican consultant who once worked for Harris. "It's ironic that this year a red tide could help us usher in a blue wave and Bill Nelson."
[ad_2]
Source link
