The answer is... Yes, but there is a better reason than those listed above.
That reason is Rick Scott, who so far has shown himself to be a Tea Party corporatist's fantasy candidate. Between his anti-immigrant rhetoric and unapologetic record of fraud, Scott has shown zero qualifications and boasts a bio which indicates more reasons not to vote for him than to cast support his way. Yet, a Florida Chamber poll released this weekend indicates he leads McCollum in the Republican primary for governor by five points, outside the poll's margin of error. The same poll shows both Scott and McCollum beating Democrat Alex Sink in the general election, and Chiles pulling in just enough as an independent to ruin Sink's chance at catching up.
So what is a good citizen to do? Route for the crooked billionaire? I have trouble doing that. For all his flaws, McCollum also has a record of public service fighting for federal dollars to come to Florida, especially in his old House district. Right now, it is also hard to forget his consistent opposition to oil drilling.
But I admit Scott's record of deception and failure within the private sector would make him a great opponent in the general election as far as our side is concerned. The Democrats ought to be able to tear him apart with ads reminding of Scott's poor judgment at HCA. Does anyone recall the way Sen. Mel Martinez made the entire 2004 Senate race about Democrat Betty Castor's handling of a single professor while President of USF? We should be able to play the same game with Scott, and do it more effectively. After all, his work in charge of HCA is the only real background he has that would qualify him for office, and he was such a failure there he was driven out by the board of directors after paying more than a billion in fines.
So part of me doesn't want to risk a Scott gubernatorial term at all. But will it be harder work to beat McCollum in the general election? Perhaps, but let me submit this clearly overdue laundry list of his flaws.
Remember that highly unpopular impeachment of a sitting President because of a sex scandal. Bill McCollum walked the impeachment papers to the Senate and was among 13 Congressman acting as prosecutors in the Senate trial. Because he was so incompetent and completely wrong, he lost despite a Republican majority in the Senate.
Looking forward to the benefits of health care reform? Well sit tight because pending litigation may delay the effects of the landmark legislation. Who would file suit against improvements to the system? Bill McCollum, and he is doing it with Florida state money. If this was just some tea party quack filing a frivolous suit, it would get dismissed, but McCollum will use the power of the AG office to push this to the Supreme Court. And guess what he thinks of regular people filing frivolous lawsuits, like those filed when health care screws people. Yeah. he doesn't like those so much.
And did you notice the Republican Party of Florida was in shambles? He didn't.
So maybe I have been too nice to Bill. Maybe he deserves to lose in August and be denied a November defeat. Maybe he is no worse than Scott. Maybe for a candidate so intent on limiting government, it is embarrassing to have a resume with nothing besides government jobs and temporary lobbying work.
But hopefully we won't need to be that mean. It seems Scott and McCollum are interested in destroying one another before the end of August. If Alex Sink can stay above the fray and develop a positive reputation among voters while those two sling mud, it may not matter who gets the Republican nomination. But until then, I concede it is important liberals in Florida know exactly what is at stake. And they shouldn't get so distracted by the polls. Scott remains untested electorally, and McCollum has lost more statewide races than he has won. With luck, these guys will marginalize themselves, but if they can't get the job done, we should be ready to finish it.
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