Sink Sets Sights On Scott

August 25, 2010

Having easily claimed the Democratic gubernatorial nomination Tuesday, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink wasted little time turning her attention to Naples businessman Rick Scott, who claimed victory Tuesday evening in a close race with Attorney General Bill McCollum.

In a video emailed to supporters , Sink said Scott, who only referred to Sink in his remarks Tuesday as “my Democratic opponent,” would run a harshly negative campaign against him similar to the bruising GOP primary. The video is at the bottom of this page.

“The election has barely been called, but Rick Scott is picking up right where he left off in his negative campaign against Bill McCollum, as though a negative campaign of personal attacks is the only kind of campaign Rick Scott knows how to run,” Sink said in the video. “But you and I know we need a governor who attacks Florida’s challenges, not someone who just attacks other people.”

But just as quickly, she raised similar questions as McCollum about Scott’s past as CEO of Columbia/HCA Healthcare, which paid $1.7 million in fines and civil settlements after Scott left due to allegations of fraud.

“We know there are many troubling and unanswered questions about Rick Scott’s background and business practices, things he clearly doesn’t want to talk about,” she said. “And let’s not forget only moved to Florida seven years ago.”

In his victory speech Tuesday, Scott predicted that some of the independent business groups that backed McCollum would support Sink, a former bank with strong ties to the Florida business community. “They like my Democratic opponent,” Scott said of the independent groups that funneled money to McCollum as the primary grew expensive. “She plays by their rules. So we know what’s next. One group (of political committees) spent millions attacking me. Tomorrow a new gang starts.”

Comments

One Response to “Sink Sets Sights On Scott”

  1. David Huie Green on August 28th, 2010 5:13 pm

    Semi-imaginary campaign speech:
    “Unlike my opponent, I will run a positive campaign.
    Unlike my opponent, I will talk about positive things, not the many criminal acts he/she has barely managed to escape being caught committing–although investigations are reported to be ongoing, which I shall not mention as part of my clean campaigning.
    Unlike my opponent, I will not go into his/her personal life and involvement in illegal, immoral, unethical, unsightly acts involving lobbyists, prostitutes, drug lords and/or terrorists.
    As part of my clean campaign, I trust you have enough sense to vote for me rather than my negative campaigning opponent.”

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