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Florida Chamber Of Commerce Makes Historic Gubernatorial Endorsement

By: BigGator5 (Diary)  |  July 28th, 2010 at 05:00 PM  | 

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Never before in it’s nearly 100-year history has the Florida Chamber Of Commerce make a gubernatorial endorsement. Today, that ended:

McCollum Endorsed By Florida Chamber Of Commerce

The mouthpiece for 140,000 of Florida’s businesses has voted and wants Bill McCollum to be the Republican nominee for governor.

The Florida Chamber of Commerce endorsed McCollum at the Port of Tampa Wednesday. It is the organization’s first gubernatorial endorsement in its nearly 100-year history.

Chamber Chairman Steve Halverson, who is president of the Haskell Company, said the chamber reviewed both McCollum’s and his opponent’s economic plans. The chamber then concluded that McCollum is more likely than former CEO Rick Scott to achieve results creating jobs and improving the state’s economy.

“Bill McCollum was the clear candidate of choice,” Halverson said.

Why is the chamber just now making an endorsement in the gubernatorial race?

Halverson explained that the rare endorsement was a product of uncertain economic times.

“Given the significance of where Florida is…we thought it was especially significant,” he said.

First, Steve Forbes endorsed Bill McCollum and now the Florida Chamber Of Commerce. For a “businessman”, Rick Scott doesn’t have much support from the business community. Maybe it’s because he oversaw the company which committed the largest Medicaid and Medicare fraud in history.

[Cross-Posted On Practical State.com]

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COMMENTS

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  • crassus

    The chamber of commerce also supported TARP and many other things. They are not conservative grassroots.

    • BigGator5

      At least half the front page contributors here at RedState supported TARP and even promoted two member diaries in support of TARP, but that’s neither here nor there.

      I also never claimed that they were conservative grassroots. However that leads me to my question to you:

      How is multi-millionaire Rick Scott consider grassroots?

      • crassus

        Since when did someone have to be on welfare to be grassroots? Rick Scott led Conservatives for Patients Rights. If not for people like him, ObamaCare may have passed without much resistance. McCollum has been running for office for years. The Chamber of Commerce is not all about conservatism. They generally support all kinds of subsidies and similar issues.

        Rick Scott is not some sort of monster. This is ridiculous.

        • BigGator5

          I have never heard of Rick Scott until he started his purchess of the governor’s seat.

          I’ll ask you what I ask someone else: Would you be slamming McCollum if Rick Scott wasn’t running?

          • crassus

            (1) I am not slamming Bill McCollum. In general I think he was a good congressman. You, on the other hand, slammed Rick Scott.

            (2) I believe someone can be a multi-millionare and be grassroots. Look up Conservatives for Patients Rights.

            (3) “His purchase of the governors seat”. Again, class warfare. What is so bad about spending your own $, rather than getting $ from a few corporations.

            (4) Bill McCollum is the establishment candidate. The Chamber of Commerce frequently opposes the “outsiders”- Ken Buck and Nikki Haley for one. In fact, the Chamber of Commerce endorsed a Dem over Haley. They think Scott and Haley are too conservative

          • BigGator5

            Class Warfare? What are you smoking?

            This is about Rick Scott skirting campiagn finance laws. Not even Jeb Bush did that. Makes me wonder what kind of laws Scott will be skirting if he becomes governor. Working with a PAC is one thing. Getting money from a PAC is one thing. Setting one up, funding, then using it to throw attack ads at your opponent, is in my honest opinion, unethical.

            Bill McCollum is a proven conservative leader here in Florida, We are also talking about the Florida Chamber Of Commerce, they have no control over other boards of trade. I see now you were thinking of the US Chamber Of Commerce that supported TARP. The Florida Chamber is all about Florida businesses and they have found that McCollum’s plan would better serve the private sector.

  • pirate55

    …is the baggage the Bill McCollums, Jeff Kottkamps and yes, Charlie Crists carry, particularly in the great State of Florida, with Republicans scandaled by the Jim Greer revelations and the RPOF good old boy manipulation of elective offices. It was why I was compelled to heed the call to precinct committeeman. Let’s see, I was Lieutenant Governor for a term, now maybe I should be the Attorney General and see how long that can last. What Scott has going is he HASN’T held office. In this political environment that’s a plus.

    Where has there been an ad of substance from McCollum, particularly after Scott has stated he will cut government and bureaucracy in Florida? Not a peep from McCollum, just that same old “lame” claim about hospitals performing abortions (Already discredited) and some other personal attacks. Meanwhile, the Florida Air Force is still in business and we have significant fiscal problems in the state.

    If this is “Historic” I will define it as “Boring”. Where are Mr. McCollum’s solutions?

    • BigGator5

      “Where are Mr. McCollum?s solutions?”

      I wrote about them here: On Call With Bill McCollum (CAN-R-FL-GOV)

      • crassus

        and one who claims to be able to is lying.

        • BigGator5

          You’re joking, right? You can’t honestly be that thick?

          Bill McCollum has solutions, for Florida’s private sector.

          • crassus

            40% of our income goes to the federal government. The Feds are 100x more influential then anything a state government does. There is a WORLDWIDE Economic recession. A state governor, even from a big state like Florida has ZERO power to make the economy start ticking again in a world of 5 billion.

      • pirate55

        I find very little problem solving here. What about Florida’s large government and endless government agencies? What about the Florida Air Force. He has not done one thing to refute the claims of his “time off” or his “state travel” amd we are to have confidence in him? As to the RPOF and Jim Greer it is what did you know and when did you know it as the Attorney General? And why doesn’t this guys ads focus on his solutions and not “mudslinging”?

        Blog with this “career politician” all you want but I think Florida government needs an infusion of new blood to cure the anemia created by our current “public servants”. Don’t see any leadership here.

        • BigGator5

          Let?s Get To Work, Still Getting Their Facts Wrong – Here I (and FactCheck.org) get to the real facts on that “Frequent Flyer” ad.

          As for solutions, I was just given more details. I am currently reading them now and will write about them later, but you can read them for yourself: Scribd: Bill McCollum

          Also, I don’t see how Bill McCollum had anything to do with Jim Greer. He could be called as a witness in that trail, does not mean he’s guilty or responible for anything. McCollum could very well be a witness against Greer.

  • wingnut43

    Small business is hurting from Obama’s policies, and that is who The Chamber represents. I can understand their taking political sides in a critical election. There is little a Governor can do, but he could have coattails in the close House and Senate races. It is important to defeat Crist, since he will caucus with the Democrats.