Gov Gloves Come Off Even at Campaign End

The two Republicans who want to be Florida’s next governor are trading barbs right up until the bitter end.

Bill Mccollum and Rick Scott aren’t letting the last day of the campaign stop them from smearing each other.

Both crisscrossed the state Monday, doing some last minute campaigning. Scott was on a streetcorner in Miami’s Westchester area waving at passing drivers. Mccollum bellied up to a burger restaurant in Tampa and continued his hand shaking campaign.

Their mode is similar – say bad things about the other guy and hope the mud sticks.

“I've never run before, so you have to define who you are and tell people what you believe in,” said Scott. “Then you have to defend yourself because I'm running against a career politician and all he can do is attack me.”

While Scott beats the ‘career politician’ drum, Mccollum strikes back by pointing to his opponent’s questionable business practices.

“There are a lot of questions he has not answered about Solantic, which is the current company he owns,” said Mccollum. “That, combined with his past record at Columbia/HCA, where they had the most massive fraud against Medicare and senior citizens in history, raises just a lot of unanswered questions.”

The latest Quinnipiac University poll has Mccollum leading Scott 39 to 35 percent, just outside the 3.5 percent margin of error. It's a gap that has inched closer just within the last few days.

Personal attacks have been the signature of the campaign. Money has, too, with the candidates spending more than $50 million on their advertising blitzes, much of that being Scott's own money.