Highly unpopular Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) sat down with the folks of Morning Joe on Wednesday to discuss the Republican presidential candidates’ chances in Florida as well as some of his state’s own issues.
Asked how Mitt Romney and Rick Perry would do in Florida, Scott said he thinks either candidate could win in a general election. And Scott doesn’t think Perry will be in much trouble for calling Social Security a “monstrous lie” and a “ponzi scheme.”
“I don’t think it’s a problem,” Scott said. “I think everybody realizes it’s an issue that we have to deal with. … I don’t think that’s going to decide who’s the nominee.”
After talking national politics, Scott moved onto Florida issues, including drug screening suspicion-less welfare applicants and going after “job-killing” regulations, a move the Florida Supreme Court recently ruled took the executive office’s authority a step too far.
Scott attributes his low approval rating to a “tough” race. “They’re pretty mean-spirited races,” he said.
On top of that, Scott said he’s just willing to make touch choices, saying, “I want to make sure Florida’s the model for the country.”
Watch the video (key part comes in around 5:30):
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David Taintor
David Taintor is the Front Page Editor at TPM, where he contributes to TPM's Livewire coverage, among other areas. David is from Chanhassen, Minnesota, where, yes, it gets very cold. Reach him at taintor [at] talkingpointsmemo.com
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