Rick Scott’s Voter Purge Powers Obama to the Lead in Florida


Holy backfire, Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s attempt to purge the voting roles in Florida is not only wildly unpopular. It is also helping to solidify Obama’s lead in the state.

According to Public Policy Polling, 50% of Floridians disapprove of Rick Scott’s attempt to purge votes, with only 34% approving. Believe it or not, Rick has actually gotten less popular due to his plan to suppress the vote. Scott’s approval rating has sunk to 31%. His disapproval rating is at 56%.

More importantly, Scott’s scheme seems to have destroyed any momentum that Mitt Romney was gaining in the Sunshine State. Romney has been able to make up one point on Obama since April. The president has gone from a 50%-45% lead to a 50%-46% lead. While Florida registered voters are split on Obama 49%-46%, the still don’t like Romney. The Republican nominee has an upside down 39%/53% approval rating in the state.

Going back to June of 2011, polling has consistently shown that Rick Scott is doing serious damage to the Republican brand in the state, while he has been helping President Obama. The June 2011 PPP poll found that Rick Scott made 40% of Florida voters less likely to vote Republican. Interestingly, the Obama/Romney spread has changed very little in a year. In 2011, Obama led Romney 47%-43%, fast forward almost a year and Obama’s lead remains at the exact same four points.

Scott has been so unpopular that he has caused an entire police union to flip their support to the Democratic Party and hold public events urging others to join them. He is easily the nation’s least popular governor, and approval ratings in twenties and thirties have been the governor’s norm since he took office.Gov. Scott shouldn’t bother  waiting around for a revival like Scott Walker has had. Scott’s highest approval rating has never surpassed Walker’s lowest (43%).

Rick Scott isn’t just wrecking the Republican Party in Florida, he is damaging the GOP’s chances in a state that they desperately need in order to have any hope at all of defeating President Obama in 2012.

Democrats rightly get nervous when whispers of Republican voter suppression efforts fill the air, but Florida is a great example of why 2012 isn’t 2000. Back in 2000, no one was talking about what Republicans were doing in Florida. Their suppression efforts were not getting media attention. Everyone assumed that the election was going to be open and fair. After getting burned in 2000, the left learned, and are being joined by Republican county election supervisors who are showing a great deal of integrity by refusing to cooperate with Scott’s purge.

This isn’t to say that voter suppression efforts aren’t happening. They are, but the difference is that Republicans and people like Rick Scott are now paying a political price for their attempts to rig an election. They can’t operate in complete secrecy anymore.

In 2000, Republicans were able to disenfranchise voters in Florida and elect George W. Bush.

In 2012, the backlash caused by those same types of suppression attempts may be helping to reelect the man that they have sworn to defeat, Barack Obama.

29 Replies to “Rick Scott’s Voter Purge Powers Obama to the Lead in Florida”

  1. Rick Scott is an evil Medicare Fraud himself..he reimbursed Florida to the billions to avoid being persecuted!.Did Floridians suffered from amnesia by electing this animal?

  2. Bwaaahahahaha.  I love it when Karma gets political.  The only way Rick Scott could galvanize Republicans now is if he changed his name to something more in-line with their voting.  I'm thiking "Rick Jesus-Regan-Lincoln Scott."

  3. while the spotlight is on Florida, now would be the perfect time for the DOJ to go after ALEC in a number of states (they are the prime movers on this Scott is simply a front man)…
     one would think there would be adequate prima facia evidence to secure an indicment for conspiracy to deny civil rights (voting rights)..
    the news about Rick Scott is fantastic, but look what money did in Wisconsin, lets not let out sights down..

  4. In fact, my jurat brother, who had mostly voted Republican from young, was trying to find a way we could recall this freak, and he is quickly finding out today’s Republicans are not his father’s Eisenhower-era Oldsmobile. He’s not alone. The cruelty and unfairness of the current Party are turning off quite a few normally Republican voters. Stopping abortion can pass for “family values”. Starving your grandparents and leaving your house to burn can’t.

  5. One quibble with your claim that Florida voter supression "elected" W.   He was not elected he was appointed by the US Supreme Court who stopped the recount.  The FL Supreme Court was on the verge of requiring a statewide recount which would have revealed that Al Gore Won!

  6. I do not understand why republicans insist on voting known crooks into office, could there have been anyone not familiar with the now famous medicare fraud?
    The one in Wisconsin is cut from the same cloth!

  7. The Party cadre supports sociopathic candidates because these can be relied on to enact a sociopathic agenda. Those voters who vote for known sociopaths are frequently acting from spite and the crawdads-in-a-bucket syndrome. The rest have just been bamboozled by presstitution.

  8. There was a lot of church politicking and Rick Scott was held up as "God's choice for governor".  He was the "Godly Good Christian" vs the horrible sinner Demon-crat (using their sort of language) and he will work to bring morality (say what?  What morality?) back to government.
    Seriously, that's the sort of thing I heard before the 2010 debacle.
    Meanwhile Democrats were bummed out by what seemed to be a massive lack of progress, combined with the constrant dripping "both parties are the same" rhetoric that was going around (guess who started it?).
    I hope that voters learned a lesson, but the loss in Wisconsin suggests they didn't.

  9. I guess turnabout is fair play.
    I think that some of the "Good Christians" are unhappy with Scott because he didn't go far or fast enough for them.  I think they expected him to have some state-level version of theocracy established by now.
    For one thing, they're unhappy that LGBT people are still around and have rights.

  10. there is a certain class/age group of conservatives, not necessarily just men, who don't understand the power of the internet–and will pay the price for that ignorance this November

  11. Not to worry, I'm sure the outraged people of Florida will cool down, just as they did here in WI, and go ahead with their fanatic right wing agenda with Rick Scott remaining their hero.

  12. Roughly 34% of Floridians dont care for the law or the constitution. I think its partinship at all costs

    Obama didn't start the two wars, Bush did! Obama inherited two UNFUNDED wars. Look it up, do not believe the FOX-hole. Obama wanted and still wants to close out the wars, but Congress has held him up along with commitments made prior to his taking the presidency. Look it up, do not believe the FOX-hole.
         Obama wanted to try the war criminals in NYC, but NYC didn't want the hassle and put up one fight, so they have to play the political grandstanding between parties. Look it up, do not believe the FOX-hole. Obama received his degree from Harvard, and with a college education, he knows more about bankruptcy and Wall Street the the FOX-hole gives him credit for. Look it up, do not believe the FOX-hole.    
         GM and Chrysler received money from the Congress, not Obama. The Congress has legislative prominence and are the only one able to allow monies be generated for any federal action. Look it up, do not believe the FOX-hole.
         The auto industry and millions of jobs were saved by the Auto bailout and most of that money has and will come back as it is secured with stock and other ownership contracts. Look it up, do not believe the FOX-hole. 
         Romney knows a bunch about Wall Street and bankruptcy as Romney and Bain Capital have a reputation in taking-over distressed businesses. As a Capitalist he's done well taking over companies, stripping them out of monies and people, selling off profitable lines, firing personnel and trashing the rest at some profit while lining his pockets with as much monies a he could. The Romney and his tax attorneys and accountants use and abuse the tax code to his advantage taking him to the pinnacle of the top 1%. Bain Capital is a shell where he and his buddies became rich on the backs of others sweat and toil. Romney did NOT create wealth, he only Extracted Existing wealth, there is a HUGE difference. Romney then used the tax code and bankruptcy court to gain monies and remove responsibilities. Look it up, do not believe the FOX-hole. 
         The debt you speak of is still mounting from the two wars that were not funded. Look it up, do not believe the FOX-hole. This current Congress has fought Obama on Debt Ceilings 5 times! This Congress has passed absolutely no jobs generation legislation at all. Any legislation sent to the Senate has no chance of passage as the House poisoned any legislation to guarantee no passage. This Congress has passed no budgets at all. All their efforts have been to stymie the president and limit Obama. Look it up, do not believe the FOX-hole. 
         A savvy business person is in the presidency now and he has done a remarkable jobs given he's had headwinds since he won the right to run against McCain. Look it up, do not believe the FOX-hole.
         I whole heartily agree we need a man who can bring us together to work as one, but the current Congress and numerous TEA-Republicans have fought the president even as he took out over 50 Al Qaeda with drone aircraft and he even quit smoking. Look it up, do not believe the FOX-hole.

  14. Wow, Jason!   Thanks for the link..I take you reported on that Big Exodus last June 12th?   I did NOT know that!
    "According to the Broward-Palm Beach New Times, what pushed the police association over the edge was Scott’s union due deductions bill, which is a union busting measure in the finest Scott Walker tradition. The Florida measure would allow government agencies to collect union dues if the union is engaged in political activities.
    They are so outraged that on July 16, the union will be holding a “Party to Leave The Party” event.
    Check out the invitations,."
    P.S.  I like your fancy new Comment Box~

  15. I followed your suggestion. I had to type my name in a couple of different ways, but was then confirmed that my voter’s status was active.

    If your registration is still active and your data current, do NOT follow the suggestion coming from the registrar’s office that you “update your signature” by submitting a whole new application. It would be too easy for them to cancel your old registration and not issue a new one, and you’d NEVER FIND OUT TILL YOU GOT TO THE POLLS. Do NOT let anyone demand your ID while you are waiting in line outside the precinct. Demand theirs, if they do. If you have a camera phone, take their picture. If you are obstructed physically or attacked, scream bloody murder.

    See if you yourself can volunteer at your precinct, as a precinct worker or as an observer. Of course, make sure you vote first. If you are going to work from the time the polls open, use early or absentee voting. If not, vote at the precinct, because I suspect that the bad guys sample those early votes to see what they have to tweak.

    Right now, Governor Scott has been enjoined from impeding voters’ registration drives with ridiculous turnaround requirements. If you can, volunteer with a reputable organization, such as the League of Women Voters. If you yourself are registring, make certain anyone assisting you is reputable. Do NOT trust church groups or unknown organizations. You could wind up registered in the trash can.

    This election is going to be dirty. Stock up on the Fels Naptha.

  16. I submit that we are not that effing dumb. We had to be stolen the first time…and, I suspect, the second. Jeb himself got into office when, at the last minute, Buddy McKay lost his lead to a bunch of absentee ballots, which leads me to believe this whole thing was being plotted out from 1994.

  17. Rick Scott reminds me of a defiant child, lashing out at the federal government that is working to halt his politically motivated purging of Florida voters.  I sincerely hope that not only does Barack Obama carry Florida in November, but also that Rick Scott and his minions are driven from office there as soon as possible.  Florida is my father's native state, and I have a number of relatives still living there.  One in particular, a cousin, keeps me updated on Scott's antics when we talk on the phone about one a month.  I feel sorry for those who didn't vote for him but are suffering from his destructive policies.  On the other hand, I firmly believe that many who did vote for him are suffering from a severe case of buyers' remorse.

  18. As a Floridian now and at the time Scott was elected, It seemed unbelievable what the voters seemed to accept about Scott.  It was known at the time about Scott's leadership as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Columbia Hospital corp. and Hospital Corp. of America, that the insurance group had kicked him out of the company for the crimes he committed and for his Medicare fraud.  During his reign, the FBI and the IRS started an investigation in 1997 for possible crime that may have been committed against Medicare.  By the time the investigaton was over, CHC/HCA was charged with 14 felonies and fined over $630 million dollars, the largest fine ever recieved by a corporation.  In addition to that, the corporation had to settle lawsuits for over $2 billion dollars.  Some of the findings they found that the corporation to be guilty of included giving physicians "loans"  that were not expected to be repaid, increasing the severity of diagnosis so they could collect higher repayments, and for charging for services that were never preformed.
    During the campaigning Scott was up against a very well known and liked Democrat who had served time in political offices.  No one either party could find any faulth with the time she spent in office, and infact did a admirable job as StateTreasurer, even though she worked for a Republican administration.
    What I do remember about the election is that Scott used most of his own money to financehis campaign and he threw a lot of money into it.  I just don't understand why the voters accepted him when we knew he was a crook even before he got elected.  

  19. Exactly. WHEN is someone, DoJ or whoever, going to prosecute some of these people? I know there’s been a few minor prosecutions, but this is huge, and if no one prosecutes, they just continue to get away with it, election after election. Consequences, doomit~

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