Joe Henderson
Rick Scott’s greatest political gift has been perfect timing.
He proved that in 2010 when he tapped into Floridians’ angst over the recession with an oft-repeated simple slogan: “Let’s Get To Work.”
Even after the first election, you could ask him about the weather or the NFL draft and his answer was always the same: jobs, jobs, jobs.
It worked. Scott was able to rise from an outsider in the business world who had never held elected office to a two-term governor. Now, he is casting his eye toward the U.S. Senate.
That brings us to the way he is flooding the TV airwaves now with commercials about term limits for Congress. His Democratic opponent in November, not coincidentally, is three-term Senator Bill Nelson.
At first blush, it might seem like a humongous waste of money on an ad blitz advocating something that is never going to happen. Congress would never pass such a law.
Also, Scott faces no primary challenger for the Republican nomination, so it’s not like he needs to pander to his conservative base.
But Scott’s camp does need a big share of Florida’s nearly 3.5 million independent voters. He is betting his message of term limits will resonate loudly with them.
“Term limits have always been extraordinarily popular with people, especially independents,” Emeritus Professor of Government at USF St. Petersburg Darryl Paulson said.
“Scott has been successful, or lucky if you want to look at it that way, in winning two gubernatorial elections by narrow margins (of about 1 percent). He needs to knit together a coalition that goes beyond his base, and independents really love this notion of term limits.”
It’s just the latest example of Scott making moves today with November in mind.
Last month, he was at the forefront of new gun restrictions imposed by the Legislature after the Parkland massacre.
The law earned him the wrath of National Rifle Association maven Marion Hammer, who previously has given Scott an A rating for his Second Amendment stances.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing for Republicans on the statewide campaign trail.
Even if Scott’s idea of limiting service time in Washington to 12 years caught fire and became law, which it won’t, it carries no downside.
If Scott wins, he would be 66 years old when he took office. That would put him at 78 after two terms, so he would probably be ready to hang it up anyway by then.
Curious, though.
Scott loves to rail against career politicians while hoping no one catches on to the fact he is becoming one. He already will have served eight years as the governor, and if he wins one term in the Senate he surely will want another.
That would potentially be 20 years in political office.
Not a bad career, eh?
That’s getting way ahead of things though.
He still has to win this race first. Florida figures to be in the national spotlight with this race and Democrats will go all out to win as they try to trigger a blue wave against Republican rule.
That’s where I wonder if Scott’s term limits message will resonate with enough voters to make a difference. With so many other issues in play, it might get crowded out of the public consciousness.
It is an interesting play though, and Scott is betting the timing is right once again.
