Crist touts education goals, then slams rival Scott
The gloves were never really on in the race for Florida governor, but they're definitely off now.
Democrat Charlie Crist and Republican Rick Scott are embroiled in bitter campaigns, and Crist used a visit Thursday to Southwest Florida to slam his chief rival for negative campaign advertisements.
"They've been running ads that are misleading for months now," Crist said. "The good news is Floridians don't believe their junk anymore."
Recent polls show Crist leading Scott by 2 to 5 percentage points.
"That garbage Rick Scott is putting out there just isn't true," Crist said in North Fort Myers, where he held an education roundtable with local teachers.
The facts are the facts, counters Greg Blair, a spokesman for Scott's campaign. Florida has gained 830,000 jobs since Scott took office, Blair said, while the state's unemployment rate ballooned to 11 percent while Crist was governor from 2007 to 2011.
"I wasn't responsible for the global economic meltdown, just like he wasn't responsible for those jobs being created," Crist said of Scott. "The jobs being created are due to the people of Florida by being hard-working people."
Beyond the numbers, each candidate has criticized the other's dedication to Floridians. Crist vacated his spot in the governor's mansion in hopes of heading to Washington, D.C. to serve in the U.S. Senate; he lost that race.
"This is the sign of a person who doesn't take his commitment to the state seriously," Blair said.
Crist formerly was a Republican, then had no party affiliation, then became a Democrat. He has said that education is his top issue.
Crist set a goal of Florida reaching the top 10 percent globally in reading, math, science and technology by 2020. He calls the level of education-related financial support from Scott "pitiful," and is looking to provide teachers with higher pay and more flexibility to teach the way they see fit.
"It's all about education and making sure that education is properly funded, we respect our teachers and do what's right for them and our children," Crist said.
State Rep. Matt Caldwell, R–North Fort Myers, isn't buying that statement.
"Charlie Crist's amnesia is getting worse," Caldwell said. "He's telling Florida teachers that he's their champion but forgetting to mention that thousands of them lost their jobs while he was governor."
Meanwhile, Crist questions Scott's motives in seeking a second term in Tallahassee.
"We deserve to have public servants who understand it's our job to serve people, and not ourselves," Crist said.
Connect with Dave Breitenstein on Twitter at @D_Breitenstein and Facebook at DaveBreitenstein.
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