Crist, Scott Pull Out Big Guns In Final Push

November 3, 2014

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist marched down the street in Fort Lauderdale, visited black churches in two counties and stumped with Vice President Joe Biden in a last-minute push Sunday, the final day of early voting in Florida.

Playing to a crowd made up almost solely of blacks at Mount Hermon AME church in Fort Lauderdale, Biden linked Crist, a former Republican governor trying to get his old job back as a Democrat, with President Barack Obama, who remains wildly popular with African-American voters despite plummeting favorability nationwide.

“I have a simple, basic message for you, a message from the president of the U.S. He’s had your back and you got to get his back,” Biden told a few hundred Crist supporters. “The way you get his back is to turn out to vote.”

But to the south of Democrat-rich Broward County, Republican Gov. Rick Scott brought out another political big gun Sunday — former Gov. Jeb Bush, who urged a crowd in Hialeah to keep Crist from moving back into the governor’s mansion.

“Charlie Crist has gotta go,” said Bush, drawing applause and cheers as he was flanked by Scott, Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera and other GOP leaders.

Both campaigns have pushed to turn out their base supporters in early voting and now are trying to get them to the polls Tuesday. Former President Bill Clinton will campaign Monday night with Crist in Orlando, while Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Texas Gov. Rick Perry will join Scott for a series of stops in the politically pivotal Interstate 4 corridor.

Biden’s appearance was among several “Souls to the Polls” events geared to black churchgoers held throughout the state Sunday.

“The president has said restoring the middle class is the defining issue of our time. That’s just what’s at stake with this election,” he said.

Biden, who also joined Crist for a rally at Florida International University earlier in the day, contrasted Scott as one of a new breed of tea party-style Republicans who can’t identify with working-class Floridians.

“They think it all trickles down.. They think if we take care of the very, very very wealthy, somehow that’s going to get down to us. In the neighborhood I was raised in that didn’t happen, man. Nothing trickled down except the rain from the roof that you couldn’t repair,” he said. “I don’t think they get it. I don’t think Rick Scott gets it and I don’t think this new Republican Party gets it.”

Biden, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972, recalled how Congress reauthorized the Voting Rights Act in 1982.

“And guess what? We didn’t count on there would be Rick Scotts left,” Biden said. “I didn’t count on the fact that you’d have a whole slew of Republican governors once again trying to convince us that we should not vote.”

Florida was one of several states that passed restrictive voting laws that critics said were aimed at curbing Democratic turnout prior to the 2012 presidential election. In 2011, Scott signed a law that cut back early voting hours and made it harder for Floridians who moved from one county to another to cast regular ballots. But last year, in response to long lines in mostly Democratic strongholds in 2012, the Legislature — with Scott’s approval — undid most of the restrictions.

Elections supervisors in 12 counties — including Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade — took advantage of the option to allow voters to cast their ballots on Sunday, the last day when voters could go to the polls before Tuesday’s election.

Democrats boasted of record turnout in Florida this year in contrast to previous mid-term elections when Democrats typically are outgunned by Republicans.

Democrats have been catching up to Republican in terms of ballots cast since early and absentee voting began last month. As of Sunday, Democrats had cast about 4.2 percent fewer ballots than the GOP, or about 125,000 votes, compared to 275,000, or a 12.7 percent advantage for the GOP in 2010, according to Democratic strategist Steve Schale, a consultant to Crist.

And black voter turnout — considered critical for a Crist win — is double that of four years ago, Schale wrote on his blog Sunday morning.

Two years ago, Obama defeated Republican Mitt Romney by a 71,000-vote margin in Florida. If 6 percent fewer of the 1 million blacks who voted in Florida in 2012 had stayed home, Obama would not have won, Biden said.

“Well it’s the same thing today, guys. Let’s get this straight. We get out the vote, we win. We stay home, we lose. We lose, the community loses,” he said.

But the Scott campaign spent part of the weekend trying to encourage turnout in GOP strongholds, such as Southwest Florida. To help do so, it enlisted high-profile Republicans including U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Christie, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, appeared Saturday with Scott in Naples and praised the incumbent’s leadership of Florida, calling him “my friend.”

“He tells you what he believes, he stands firm to work to get it done. You can count on his honesty. you can count on his loyalty. And you can count on the fact that if he asks you for four more years as he’s done, that he will deliver those four years in a way that will make you proud,” said Christie, who has made a series of appearances for Scott during the campaign.

Many Democrats blamed former state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink’s loss to Scott in 2010 on lackluster turnout in Broward County, where more than half of the 1 million registered voters are Democrats, and nearly a quarter of registered voters are black. But County Commissioner Marty Kiar said Sunday that voters — who cast more than 12,000 ballots on Saturday alone — are more enthused this year.

“Our early voting numbers have been huge,” Kiar, a former state representative, said. “People are coming out in droves. … The margin that we’re going to win by in Broward County is what’s going to put Charlie over the top.”

Appearing on stage before Biden and Crist, state Senate Minority Leader Chris Smith, who has been leading an intensive get-out-the-vote effort in black neighborhoods in Fort Lauderdale, urged supporters to join him and Crist for a march down Sistrunk Boulevard to a nearby early voting site.

“Four years ago we did not turn out like we should,” Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, said. “Broward County will make the difference this year.”

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz credited the uptick in turnout to Crist’s campaign, which has 120 workers statewide and has micro-targeted minority voters and women who cast ballots in 2008 and 2012 but stayed home in 2010.

“I have not seen a ground game like this ever in Florida,” Wasserman Schultz, who is also the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said.

by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida

Pictured top inset: Incumbent Rick Scott campaigns on Sunday in Miami. Pictured bottom inset: Challenger Charlies Crist greets crowds in North Miami. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

13 Responses to “Crist, Scott Pull Out Big Guns In Final Push”

  1. melodies4us on November 4th, 2014 5:48 pm

    I used to like Jeb Bush. He was a good governor. . . But he doesn’t even know Rick Scott. He moved to Texas right after his last term. He is just playing politics. Makes me wonder if he is going to run for another office soon.

  2. Niknak50 on November 4th, 2014 5:09 pm

    To Harry:
    1. I never said I lost my doctor
    2. I have Blue Cross now.
    3. Will have to purchase coverage at retirement at ridiculous rate.
    4. I never called anyone a loser.
    5. LBJ signed the Great Society legislation passed by a Democratic congress,
    Creating the welfare state, as we know it.
    6. I paid my way through life by living below and within my means.
    7. I paid for the birth of my son
    8. I am not a redneck .
    9. I,m glad you got where you are with “stepping stones” as you call them

  3. Me on November 4th, 2014 3:05 am

    Me again by the way Harry Navy Federal five thousand jobs and countless others have come to town again look at the facts not the he said she said too many people are so afraid of losing their handouts there are jobs out there you just have to work and be willing to look I can’t find help or if I do they can’t pass a drug test really that’s ashame then everyone feels sorry for this person by the way it is not my nor your responsibility to cover any one with health insurance if that’s the case what time is dinner so I can come eat with you food is expensive and I dont want to spend my money so I’ll come eat your food look at it for what it is we are creating a defendant society that won’t work the numbers don’t lie

  4. Me on November 4th, 2014 1:24 am

    To Harry I am so glad your insurance hasn’t gone up the vast majority of American people’s has I never said a word about losing my doctor I have no reason to lie you are in the minorty if yours hasn’t look at things for what they are not what me or any one else says too many people are taking advantage of our government and it’s handouts the facts don’t lie I’m so glad you are not on public assistance any more again you are in the minority good for you most people start and never stop you can call me a narrow minded redneck all you want that just proves you do not want to look at facts and just call me and the rest of the middle class that work to support people who could work but won’t if my calling them losers bothers you I’m sorry maybe you should go and educate people how to get a job like you

  5. Harry on November 3rd, 2014 9:45 pm

    I highly doubt your insurance has tripled “me” and I highly doubt you have lost your doctor “niknak50″ if that’s the case you both have horrible insurance. I am paying the same price for insurance as I was three years ago and I have had the same doctor for the past nine years. A big problem with our society is narrow minded rednecks like a lot of the people down here who think anyone who is a democrat is just looking to give handouts to “losers” as you call them. These republicans are the ones who have made it difficult for many to get decent paying jobs for reasons such as outsourcing and failure to raise minimum wage among other things. Guess what when I was in college me and my wife got food stamps, wic, financial aid, GI bill and if it was not for Medicaid I would not have been able to afford the hospital bills for the birth of my son because neither of us had or could afford health insurance. Thank goodness for all of these so called “handouts” as you call them because these stepping stones as I call them put me where I am now.

  6. No more handouts on November 3rd, 2014 8:06 pm

    I have issue with both candidates but choosing the lesser of both evils is a vote for Scott. You either work for what you get or you are walking around with both hands out working the system for anything you can. I see so many people who rather “work the system” than “work for a living” and Obama politics just promotes more of this rhetoric. Spreading the wealth is just plain socialism. Vote Scott or give away your hard earn money to somebody who DOESNT want to work anyways.

  7. Niknak50 on November 3rd, 2014 4:24 pm

    Yes, Charlie crist, Obama has really had our backs, has,t he? ” if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor”. Millions are now uninsured as a result of democrat polices. Just keep drinking the coolaid.

  8. Me on November 3rd, 2014 3:14 pm

    I can not believe that any one could vote for Charlie he’s no better than Obama my health care has tripled in price that’s affordable really wake up he’s a big mistake for us in Florida look at him for who he is Scott is not perfect but Florida is a much better state because of him the facts don’t lie if you want more handouts go for Charlie I work to hard to give more away to losers who won’t work

  9. MB on November 3rd, 2014 2:33 pm

    As a parent and an educator with students who will attend public school in Florida, there is only one choice. Charlie Crist

  10. Mark T on November 3rd, 2014 11:47 am

    The Republican Party has never been, nor will it ever be for the average working people .. I personally don’t care for either party, but I can not bring myself to vote republican again after learning what their true agenda is.. Cut taxes sounds good but who really benefits from that ? We need good paying jobs with good benefits, and that includes County and State jobs.. Republicans have only hurt these jobs, not help at all..

  11. Susie on November 3rd, 2014 9:10 am

    Let’s go Charlie! Florida needs you! For most of my life me and my family have voted republican and we are registered republicans, but the issues at stake here make Charlie the man to earn my vote as well as everyone in my family.

  12. Ulysess Everette McGilll on November 3rd, 2014 7:27 am

    Both Republican and Democratic parties lack moral fiber. It’s time to throw all the buns out! I suppose, in that the system is so corrupt as to stifle 3rd party candidates and grass roots movements like the Tea Party, that the only solution is to vote against all encumbants every election…..maybe that’ll send them the message!

  13. 429SCJ on November 3rd, 2014 5:59 am

    Jeb Bush “Say hello to my little friend”.

    Rick Scott and Jeb Bush may fit in good with the Miami crowd, but I think Crist is more suitable for our needs.

    The way Governor Scott is slinging cash in this campaign, he should have used some of his gotten gains to bring our carrier back to Pensacola.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News