Jesse Scheckner
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott is again invoking former President Ronald Reagan to decry Democratic and progressive policies — this time through a $3 million ad campaign.
Titled “Losing Our Country,” the one-minute clip will air on TV in every Florida media market over the next month.
Scott’s campaign called it “the largest ad buy of any GOP Senate candidate so far this election cycle.” It’s Scott’s second TV ad this fall.
Production-wise, the new spot couldn’t have cost much. It features only Scott sitting at a microphone in a recording studio opining on the current state of U.S. security, criminal justice, foreign affairs, the economy and culture war issues.
According to him, America’s 40th President would be appalled at how things are today.
“If Ronald Reagan were here right now, he would say, ‘What in the hell have you guys done to my great country?’” Scott says in the ad before rattling off a list of grievances.
“We are losing our country. It’s time to cowboy up and fight like hell to turn this country around.”
Scott said in a statement accompanying the ad’s announcement that Democrats “have rigged the game against hard-working Americans who still believe in our great country.”
“But it’s always darkest before the dawn,” he said. “I am excited to launch our newest ad as part of our robust advertising campaign that shows the destruction Democrats have unleashed across our nation and why voters will reject them next year.”
Scott has cited Reagan as a conservative standard-bearer in past critiques of Democratic leadership. In August 2021, less than a year after Joe Biden assumed the presidency and Republicans captured a majority in the House, Scott penned an op-ed urging the U.S. to “relive the days of Ronald Reagan’s economic policies.”
“Much like 40 years ago, we again find ourselves at a moment of critical importance to the future success of our country,” he wrote. “This year, we have seen the disastrous policies of the Biden administration and Democrats in Washington wreak havoc on families and businesses in Florida and across our nation.”
During his successful 2010 run for Governor, Scott’s family adopted a Labrador retriever they named after Reagan. (They gave the dog back to its prior owner shortly after he took office.)
Scott’s last TV ad, “Hostage,” launched in late September and ran in Fort Myers, Gainesville, Tallahassee and Tampa with a five-figure price tag.
This election cycle, Scott faces challenges from several Democrats, including Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a former U.S. Representative who raised more than $1.5 million within five weeks of announcing her candidacy.
Former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson is also running for the Democratic nomination. Other candidates include Republican entrepreneur and lawyer Keith Gross and Democrats Donald Horan, Brian Rush and Rod Joseph.
Shortly after Scott’s campaign shared word of the ad campaign, Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried issued a statement calling him a “self-serving Senator who has failed Florida’s working families time and time again.”
“Instead of serving the people he was elected to represent, Rick Scott wrote the plan to sunset Social Security and Medicare, pushed for a national abortion ban, advocated to raise taxes on the middle class, and voted to shut down the government,” she said. “Floridians are tired of Rick Scott’s partisan games, and they’re ready to send him into retirement.”
Scott’s 12-point “Rescue America” plan included a proposal to sunset all federal legislation in five years, but amended the plan in February to exempt Social Security, Medicare and the U.S. Navy. A Tax Policy Center examination of Scott’s plan in 2022 found that it could increase federal income taxes by more than $100 billion yearly, 97% of which would be paid by households making less than $100,000.
And while Scott indeed voted against averting a government shutdown in December, he was among those who voted alongside all Democratic Senators for a stopgap bill to avoid a shutdown late last month.
16 comments
JD
October 19, 2023 at 4:50 pm
Wow, these F*cktards have scraped the bottom of the barrel on fear mongering, haven’t they? It’s like the ultimate culture war.
Kelly Beardsley
October 20, 2023 at 3:41 pm
Yes, and this comes from the medicare CEO fraudster of all times!
My Take
October 19, 2023 at 5:40 pm
High among the potential dangers to this nàtion are chaos and fascism, both brokeŕed by the GOP.
PeterH
October 20, 2023 at 11:02 am
Republicans are in a very dark place and are trying their best to convince you that Armageddon is right around the corner. Mitt Romney hit the nail on the head ….. “Fox News and right wing media have destroyed the Republican Party!”
TJC
October 20, 2023 at 12:23 pm
“It’s time to cowboy up and fight like hell…” says Tricky Rick.
Two things in that call to action stand out.
The first is Rick Scott telling America to “cowboy up” and imagining we can all relate to that. It sounds vaguely like porn talk to me, but that’s just me, I’m sure, and not his intention.
Secondly, “Fight like hell” is the phrase Trump used to instigate the January 6 insurrection. Does this mean Rick believes we need another insurrection, or does it mean he needs a new speech writer? In any case, it appears the man does not have an original thought in his head. Predicting what Ronald Reagan would say about America today is a pretty worn out tactic among GOP pols, and Rick implying he’s Reagan 2.0 is just pitiful in many regards. Unlike Rick, Reagan had an appealing personality, a sense of humor including self-deprecating humor, and a good sense of what works and doesn’t work on television. That’s three strikes for Rick before we even compare governing and policy issues. He’s out.
Marty
October 20, 2023 at 5:07 pm
Absolutely true! How about a little honest self-reflection by republicans, Add an admission that the party is in chaos.
KW
October 29, 2023 at 7:04 pm
What part of **GO PEACEFULLY** did you miss in Trump’s speech that incited insurrection? I’ll take both of them, any day!!!
rick whitaker
October 29, 2023 at 8:46 pm
i’m sure you would. you are a maga cultist and they do what trump says like all good cultist.
Curtis
October 20, 2023 at 6:56 pm
Didn’t Reagan give amnesty to all aliens in our country more than two years ? Yup! Approximately 8-10 million people ? Lmao . Tricky Ricky is no Reagan !!!
rick whitaker
October 20, 2023 at 8:27 pm
people are STILL waiting for the trickle down of raygunism. it’s been more like getting pissed on. scott is a horrible politician . dump scott.
jrhmobile
October 21, 2023 at 7:08 pm
Just putting down the tank traps before DeSantis tries to steamroller his way into the Senate race.
Ronnie D. is gonna need to run for office somewhere after he gets flattened by Trump, and the filing deadline to run for the Senate isn’t until April 26.
Michael K
October 22, 2023 at 10:06 am
The best way to lose our country is to enable Rick Scott to destroy Social Security and Medicare, and all trust in our pubic institutions.
Daddylongleggs
October 22, 2023 at 9:24 pm
When does an electorate get just plain sick of seeing and hearing the person they keep electing? Florida might be old but I hope it isn’t just plain stupid!!! Ricky rigged snot doesn’t no how to blink and won the Jared loughner lookalike contest!! Vote D in November 2024!!
KW
October 29, 2023 at 7:07 pm
and then for sure lose this country. Would never vote D in a million years!!!
rick whitaker
October 29, 2023 at 8:40 pm
we don’t want your negative type, you’re going to vote maga anyway
My Take
October 23, 2023 at 10:57 pm
“If Ronald Reagan were here right now, he would say, ‘What in the hell have you guys done to my great . . .”
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. . . PARTY? My GOP?” My “Big Tent”?
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