Florida Gov. Scott: Businesspeople Can Be Successful Politicians
With the critical “Super Tuesday Two” primaries upon us, Florida Governor Rick Scott, whose state is of ultrahigh importance to candidates, weighed in on the race during a conversation with FOX Business Network’s Neil Cavuto.
“I think it [the race] will come down to, just like my two races [for governor], who’s the best for jobs,” Scott told Cavuto. He added, “My responsibility today is to make sure we have a fair election. I’ve talked to my secretary of state. We don’t have any incidents of fraud, any incidents of irregularities. The important thing today is to make sure we don’t have any issues.”
The Republican governor explained why he hasn’t endorsed a GOP candidate yet.
“I just want to rely on the voters,” he said. “The voters are smart: they’re going to make a good decision. I didn’t like the establishment telling me to get out of the [gubernatorial] race in 2010. I don’t like the establishment telling people who they should vote for.”
Despite not making an endorsement, Scott did say he would definitely support the GOP nominee.
“We can’t have four more years of Barack Obama,” Scott stressed. “We’ve turned our state around, but boy, the federal government is always just so painful to deal with.”
Scott also commented on Marco Rubio, the sitting senator from his state, who is one of the four remaining candidates attempting to win the GOP nomination for president. According to the latest polls, frontrunner Donald Trump holds a commanding lead over Rubio, who most believe needs to win his home state, in order to continue in the race.
“Senator Rubio’s done a very good job; he’s been a very good partner to work with,” Scott said. “We got elected together in 2010. He’s been helpful to me with regard to the federal government.”
The governor, whose background is in business and healthcare, explained why a businessperson can be a successful politician.
“I looked at it like I had specific goals,” he said. “I put out a goal when I ran—700,000 jobs in seven years through seven steps—and I just worked at it every day. A lot of people say business and government aren’t the same. They are the same if you’re very focused… good business people are very focused. Good elected individuals are very focused on what they ran on.”