Governor Scott wants to focus on action, yet if conservatives were to do that, they would realize that Governor Scott’s actions include a constant betrayal of their politics.
By Sean David Hartman
During his campaign speech on Monday, where he finally announced his candidacy for the US Senate, Republican Governor Rick Scott told his supporters that we need to stop electing “talkers” and start electing “doers”.
And by gum… do I agree! So, Governor Scott, let’s focus on what you’ve done, rather what you say.
Now there are some great accomplishments from you Governor. We have seen massive job-growth during your tenure and that should be applauded. But outside of job growth, there are a multitude of flaws and failures during your Governorship, as well as a record of going against the conservative principles you campaigned for, whether it comes to Common Core or the Second Amendment.
Your conservative base is no longer as strong as it used to be, not because of what you said, but rather, what you did.
Let’s start with Common Core, a quite memorable one for me as that was the first time we met. Like many conservatives, we were against the one-size-fits-all failure of Common Core. Yet despite your claims that you would not implement the national education curriculum, you lied to the People of Florida and had your Education Commissioner implement the program statewide, and when you were caught, all you did was change the name to “Florida Sunshine State Standards.”
Yet the standards were essentially identical to the Common Core standards, meaning that the Governor must have felt his conservative base was too stupid to notice. So not only did Governor Scott keep the same standards conservatives opposed, he lied to conservatives about it.
As Teddy Roosevelt famously said, “to anger a conservative, lie to them.”
Governor Scott has lied to conservatives several times since then. Conservatives seem to forget that Governor Scott attempted to take the Medicaid Expansion money but was stopped by courage conservatives in the Legislature. Had he had his way, the State would have been left with a heavy financial burden, particularly after the loss of funding for Obamacare programs.
Recently, those pro-gun conservatives have been feeling the ire against Governor Scott. Under pressure from high school students and leftist activist, Governor Scott and several “conservative” Republicans, all supported the gun control bill which did nothing but restrict our liberties and has led to the NRA to begin suing the State of Florida.
Governor Scott was once beloved by the NRA. Now under his leadership, that same organization is now suing him for violating the Constitution.
Now certainly, some of these leftist activists like David Hogg may be happy that Governor Scott is bucking the NRA. But not only has doing so alienated Governor Scott with his conservative base, it has done nothing to appease the gun control supporters whispering in his year.
Governor Scott has always been unpopular amongst liberals. In both of his campaigns for Governor, he won with only 1% of the vote. The second run for Governor was against Former Governor Charlie Crist, a former Republican and Independent, whose campaign as a Democrat was viewed by many as political opportunism.
Governor Scott wants to focus on action, yet if conservatives were to do that, they would realize that Governor Scott’s actions include a constant betrayal of their politics.
Conservatives deserve better.
Sean David Hartman is a reporter for the Central Florida Post, covering both politics and entertainment issues. He is a political operative who describes himself as a “bleeding-heart libertarian”. Hartman is autistic and bipolar and supports the neurodiversity movement and protecting the constitutional rights of those with mental health conditions.
