Florida governor’s race in a nutshell: businessman or bureaucrat?

Gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott with running mate Rep. Jennifer Carroll. [Photo from Republican Women's Club of Duval Federated.]The gubernatorial debate at Nova Southeastern in Davie, Florida, on Wednesday revealed a clear choice for voters. Do we want a businessman to lead the state out of the current quagmire or a bureaucrat? Both candidates stuck to talking points, sometimes specfic and sometimes general.

One question seemed ludicrous, considering the limited time.

Businessman Rick Scott (R) and Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink had a definitely comical moment when a completely trivial topic was raised by one of the panelists. Each candidate for governor had to say something nice about the other. It felt like a Girl Scout camp moment.

The candidates tossed out a few kind words about family and that was that. The rest of the questions were mostly predictable, setting a sharp contrast to the excellent questions that produced an excellent debate between Florida Senate candidates on Tuesday.

WE’VE HEARD IT ALL BEFORE

Alex Sink’s approach to governing is based on 26 years of “business experience.” I figure Sink doesn’t say “banking” because after all, that sector figured heavily in the economic meltdown that has seen home values decline and foreclosures rise.

Sink sidestepped questions about the state pension fund’s decline except for saying the executive director of the pension fund “didn’t do his job.” Sink asked for his resignation, apparently realizing he wasn’t doing his job after the damage was done.

Not a single panelist thought to ask Sink about the real issue with the pension fund—middlemen. There is little transparency. The Tampa Tribune said placement agents got millions for “making introductions and setting up meetings.” Wouldn't that be worthy of a question?

Sink’s platform is a basic Democrat catering to union organizations (teachers and some law enforcement).

Scott, more than once, called her a “Tallahassee insider,” someone “no different than President Obama.”

Quite naturally Sink repeatedly mentioned HCA and the investigation that led to fines for the company’s practices relating to government insurance programs. What Sink and her allied media fail to see is that the government got money back on that.

The business sector Sink spent most of her career in, banking, has returned nothing to the American people for the industry’s shameful practices. Some of the TARP money has been repaid, but most Americans are sitting on less equity and less credit availability.

Another troubling matter related to Sink is her non-specific approach to immigration—a ‘let’s let the feds do their jobs on that’ approach. Problem is the feds aren’t doing their jobs and it is evident Sink has no idea what problems exist in the US immigration process.

No one called her on any of it but I think Scott would look at immigration based on a fiscal approach because what the current administration refuses to admit is that immigration is a fiscal issue particularly since ObamaCare is based on self-reporting and because more than half of the immigrant population receives government benefits.

BUSINESSMAN OR BUREAUCRAT?
Scott’s approach is based on business practices. Anyone who’s ever been involved in a small business knows that spending matters. He noted the opportunity for Florida when it comes to bringing new business to the state and with that, new jobs. “We’re gonna grow this state,” he said, pointing to the absence of a state income tax and the fact Florida is a right-to-work state not held in thrall by big labor unions.

Scott pointed to the approach bureaucrats can’t wrap their minds around when it comes to the costly issue of government employees—attrition. By eliminating empty positions and taking a gradual approach to downsizing, Florida can certainly cut employee costs not just for now but for the future. Taxpayers don’t just support current employees—benefits must be supported for years after those employees retire.

Sink falsely accused Scott of being a “corporate raider.” Fact is when Scott began to grow HCA, a number of the hospitals he acquired were severely behind on technology and infrastructure. One South Carolina hospital HCA acquired went from being a modest church-owned facility to becoming a preeminent heart facility. I personally witnessed the growth of that institution after HCA took it over and I also had personal experience with it when loved ones and friends were patients. Say what you want about Scott but the fact is HCA most definitely improved that facility and there were no record layoffs.

Sink rather comically noted she has the endorsement of a number of newspapers. That’s to be expected—she’s a Democrat. She also said not a single one of those papers has said anything negative about her. That’s a matter of perspective because The LA Times did say something negative—it was just couched in such a manner that many wouldn’t recognize the import.

The Times named Ken Lewis as Sink’s “mentor.” For point of reference, here’s a bit of backgrounder on Lewis from Forbes about Sink’s mentor: “The decade of the 2000s, the Ken Lewis decade at Bank of America, will likely end with the company's breakup, and with the continued involvement of all of us, the taxpayers, in picking up the pieces.”

To my knowledge not a single panelist has ever asked Sink about her association with Lewis, her “mentor.”

On education, Sink’s rhetoric is solid Democrat—turn to the teachers, the superintendents, etc.

Scott however believes in choice—let parents choose the school, charter schools and other means of addressing the issue.

Both candidates said the FCAT test is only one measure of a student’s performance. Scott said it “should not be the only instrument” for measuring success.

Scott has detailed his platform and policy on his website.

Florida voters have two clear choices in this race—we can select a businessman who has created private sector jobs or a bureaucrat whose performance as chief financial officer is not very impressive. Scott’s ‘Let’s get to work’ approach is what the state needs to expand our economic base.

By the end of the debate, Scott looked like a governor. The same cannot be said of Sink. [Analysis by Kay B. Day/Oct. 21, 2010]

[Disclosure: The author of this column is supporting Rick Scott for governor of Florida. No rewards or benefits of any kind are derived by the author for this support.]