Editorials
McCollum for governor
Hernando Today
Published: August 21, 2010
The issue: GOP primary race for governor. Our opinion: Bill McCollum, of course.Published: August 21, 2010
There's only one real choice in the Republican primary race for governor: Bill McCollum.
McCollum, a Hernando County native, has dedicated his life to public service, and he's done an admirable job for all Floridians.
As attorney general, McCollum prosecuted Medicare fraud cases and brought millions back to the state.
His opponent, Rick Scott, ran a huge national hospital company that bilked the federal government out of millions of dollars in Medicare fraud. It was systemic, and the company was forced to pay more than $1.7 billion in fines - a record.
Scott was in charge of that company and takes responsibility for what happened, even though he says he didn't know it was happening. To say he had no knowledge of what was going on is to say he didn't keep close enough tabs on his own company.
We don't need a governor who doesn't know what's going in Florida.
McCollum may be a career politician, but he's put together a solid record that shows leadership, integrity and dedication to making Florida a better place to live.
Scott has taken his hundreds of millions of dollars of personal wealth to try to buy the governor's seat. So far he's spent more than $22 million. He's never held public office or run for any political seat. To suddenly think he'd make a great governor is ridiculous, especially with his tarnished record.
Scott is hoping that voters' anger against "career politicians" will propel him to the governor's desk and that he can do so by buying more air time to sling mud than his opponent.
Voters should not fall for his tactics.
The winner of the primary will face Democrat Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink in November. Bud Chiles, son of former Gov. Lawton Chiles, is running with no party affiliation.
Scott is not prepared to be governor. He's not well versed on important issues facing Florida and has avoided tough questions by the press about his checkered health care career.
McCollum, on the other hand, has done much as attorney general to clean up the state by going after gangs and Internet predators. He's also leading the fight to overturn President Barack Obama's health care fiasco by getting it declared unconstitutional.
That's important.
McCollum has a record that voters can evaluate, while Scott is an unopened book. "Let's get to work" is a catchy slogan, but what exactly is the work Scott wants to get down to?
McCollum has a plan to cut taxes, create jobs and improve the state's economy. Scott promises to do the same. But where is his plan? You can't privatize huge chunks of government programs to save billions of dollars and simply expect better results without a reasonable plan.
McCollum is a trusted public servant with integrity and conservative values. He will make a great governor.
Hernando Today recommends voters cast their ballots for McCollum on Tuesday.