When Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus was asked last month about Florida Gov. Rick Scott speaking at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, he offered a less-than-welcoming indication of Scott's role:
"I'm sure he's got, I'm sure he's got plenty, uh, you know, I'm sure there's a welcome, you know, there's a lot of protocol there too, so I don't want to get into the details because I don't know what the answer to that is yet."But now it's official: Scott will be speaking alongside South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
There are still some speakers -- including the keynote -- who aren't being announced yet, according to today's Tampa Bay Times. Absent so far is Sen. Marco Rubio and the other commonly cited possibilities for Mitt Romney's vice presidential nominee, a list that changes every day but surely includes Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush's name was being tossed around a few months ago too, though he said he would "under no circumstances" be the VP pick.
As for Scott, not only was he not in consideration but people on the ballot here don't seem to even want his endorsement: The Herald ran a story Friday about how candidates are busily aligning themselves with every Florida Republican except Scott, whose polling numbers are not exactly inspiring. A poll from the end of July showed Scott had a 40 percent job approval rating, with 51 percent disapproving. There was also that brief kerfuffle over the story in which the Romney campaign reportedly asked Scott to stop talking about how great the Florida economy was because it was interfering with their messaging for the economic apocalypse.
At least he'll get some face time at the big party.
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