Republican Gov. Rick Scott launched his campaign for Senate this morning with the video below. The multimillionaire’s long-awaited entry into the race against Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., probably puts one of the Democrats’ more impregnable Senate seats seriously into play for the first time since Nelson won it 18 years ago.
If Scott can somehow pull it off in a year when hurricane-force winds seem to be blowing against Republicans, Democrats would lack a clear path to a Senate majority.
Scott was a slightly hesitant supporter of President Trump, endorsing him after instead of before the Florida presidential primary in 2016. But he became a Trump ally nonetheless, and Trump reportedly lobbied him to run for Senate. Given Scott’s enormous capacity to self-finance (he reportedly spent $100 million on his last gubernatorial run in 2014), you can understand why Republicans are pretty happy about this.
You can also hear the distinctive Trumpist strain in his announcement video, in which the two-term incumbent governor frames himself as an outsider candidate.
“Some say as governor, I’ve never fit in or played by the political rules in Tallahassee. Well that’s true. I’ve never planned to fit in, and I won’t fit in Washington either. It’s time to shake that place up. We don’t need another politician in Washington. It’s full of politicians, and that’s why it’s broken.”
Scott then talks about his humble origins, and praises his mother for working hard and motivating him. And he throws in another cultural idea that fits well with the age of Trump and political correctness:
“Even though I was born poor, I tell people I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. You know why? Because I was born in America, the land of opportunity. It’s become fashionable to complain and talk bad about our country. I’m sick of that. America is the greatest place on earth, and we should all thank God we are here.”
