By Javier Manjarres
Even though three candidates remain in the Florida Republican Senate primary race, the race is effectively down to two who have a plausible chance of winning- Congressman Connie Mack and former Senator George LeMieux. Former Army Colonel Mike McCalister is still in the race, but he’s not gaining the necessary traction or support that will enable him seriously compete in the primary. Also, McCalister has shown that he may not have the temperment for the job, after a recent verbal scuffle with a constituent at one of his speaking events.
As of now, Mack enjoys an impressive lead over LeMieux primarily because of the substantial recognition that his name enjoys through his father, former U.S. Senator Connie Mack III. Many grassroots activists and establishment Republicans are wondering whether or not LeMieux can stage a comeback against Mack. In head to head match-ups vs. Senator Bill Nelson, the latest Rasmussen Poll shows that Mack is tied with Nelson at 41%, whereas LeMieux trails Nelson 45-35%.
LeMieux has proven himself to be a very savvy and formidable campaigner as he sticks to his campaign game plan and does not let himself get off message. To his credit, LeMieux recently won a straw poll conducted by the Florida Federated Republican Woman’s group in Tallahassee.
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In addition to this straw poll victory, social conservatives have started whispering about possibly backing LeMieux because he appears to be more of consistent pro-life candidate than Mack. Mack has stated that he is 100% Pro-Life, but he did vote for several embryonic stem cell bills that have infuriated right-to-lifers in the Republican Party.
Both men have fairly conservative voting records in Congress, but LeMieux’s record stands out a bit more since Senators tend to get much more attention and glory every time they even sneeze.
LeMieux recently tore into Mack over several of his personal indiscretions that occurred both before and after he was elected to Congress. LeMieux’s latest campaign ad is arguably entertaining, as he refers to Mack as the “1/2 Mack,” which highlights some low-lights from Mack’s past.However, the LeMieux ad inexplicably ridicules Mack’s prior employment at the Hooter’s restaurant chain. This could come back to haunt LeMieux, as it appears that he is going after Mack for holding a blue-collar job in the restaurant industry- so what if Mack once worked for Hooters? In this economic climate, folks should be happy that they’re employed by any restaurant in the food services industry. This line of attack could certainly be construed as insulting and demeaning, and it could also create the perception that LeMieux is a snobbish, power brokering attorney who looks down on the work of blue collar service industry workers. We’ll see what the fallout is from this video, so stay tuned…
Here is LeMieux’s video:
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