POLITICO.COM : Obama's strength in Florida : Governor kicking out thousands of teachers - Unfulfilled Promises of driving out Hispanics - "Obama does as well among Hispanics as Rubio does" - "The most unknown governor we’ve ever had" says former Florida GOP Chairmnan

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The Failure of Anti-Immigrant Legislation in Florida, Chaos in Education - Governor Rick Scott : approval rating 29%, disapproval rating 57% - Rejecting Federal Money for Florida.


POLITICO.COM -
President Obama's secret weapon in Florida: Rick Scott -
By GLENN THRUSH & BYRON TAU -
May 30, 2011


President Obama's secret weapon in Florida: Rick Scott


Some excerpts :

Six months ago, in the wake of the wipe-out midterm elections, moderate Florida Sen. Bill Nelson privately vented that President Barack Obama, weighed down by his health reform effort and muddled messaging, was “toxic” for Democrats back home.

Yet Obama’s approval rating has surged from 42 percent to 51 percent in the last month, and Nelson is now openly embracing the president, pronouncing himself dutifully “fired up” at an Obama-hosted Miami fundraiser this spring.

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But Obama’s biggest asset in a critical swing state he won by a mere 2.8-percentage-point margin in 2008 might be Rick Scott, the wildly unpopular Republican governor Democrats are casting as Lex Luthor to Obama’s Clark Kent.

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“Obviously, it gets a lot tougher for us if they put someone like Rubio on the ticket,” said Scott Arceneaux, executive director of the Florida Democratic Party. “But Rick Scott is the standard-bearer for Republicans in Florida. … He wants to be President Obama’s foil in Florida, and we’re more than happy to let him be just that.”

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The governor has given Obama plenty to work with five short months after Scott eked out a 49 percent to 48 percent win over Democrat Alex Sink. He’s cut 10 percent of the state’s education budget, which could result in the sacking of thousands of teachers; the Republican supermajority in the state Legislature flatly rejected his attempt to ram through an Arizona-type immigration law and his rejection of federal high-speed rail funding has sparked criticism from many in his own party.

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Scott has picked fights with almost everybody: reporters, liberals, Republicans, but especially with the Obama administration, rejecting $2.4 billion for a high-speed rail link between Tampa and Orlando and $1 billion to implement the health reform law — all while positioning himself at the vanguard of the state-level anti-Obama movement.

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