Gov. Rick Scott's job approval rating remains positive, with 50 percent of likely voters approving of the job he's doing. This, according to heavily Republican-leaning Florida Chamber of Commerce's latest poll.
Voters have "a more positive view of the future," the FCPI says. And they "favor Governor Rick Scott in the state's top leadership race."
In fact, according to the poll released Monday, Scott leads Charlie Crist 44 percent to 41 percent.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce, which is basically a large business group made up of Republican businesses -- including one of Scott's biggest donors, FPL -- are big on slashing government spending and have already endorsed Scott for reelection.
Whether it puts the poll into question is up to interpretation. But even the Florida Chamber of Commerce knows that any poll favoring Scott -- shady or not -- is good news for Scott supporters.
"The good news for Scott allies, notably the sponsors of this poll, is not just that Scott leads but that respondents appear to feel pretty good about the direction of the state under Scott," the poll says.
Florida Chamber of Commerce is a multimillion-dollar operation considered one of the biggest influences in Tallahassee and has aggressively pushed the GOP agenda for years.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce includes at least a dozen political committees that have given more than $3 million into elections and midterm elections over the years, mostly for Republican candidates and agendas.
The poll surveyed 627 likely voters and says 29 percent of them rank job creation and the economy as their number-one issue.
"For six straight months, a plurality of voters believe the Sunshine State is headed in the right direction," the Chamber of Commerce says.
The poll claims that Scott's favorability is climbing, while Crist's is dropping off, down to 36 percent from 41 percent in June for the former governor.
Mark Wilson, president and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, pulls out all the stops with the GOP talking points in analyzing the poll results.
"I believe a major reason Charlie Crist is visibly losing support is because voters are beginning to realize that Rick Scott's private-sector pro-jobs plan is working and that Florida continues to move in the right direction," he says.
Still, the Florida Chamber of Commerce admits that the margin of error is small and that even with Scott spending big on negative ad campaigns against Crist, the race is still a very tight one. Even though, apparently, half of Florida believes the state is moving in the right direction.
Still, Scott continues to roll out the ads, although he may have hit a snag with his latest.
According to BrowardBulldDog, Scott's latest Spanish-language campaign ad touting the jobs record the poll says is so important stars a Tampa business owner who was once convicted of human smuggling.
Scott has since pulled the ad from airing.
Still, that blunder isn't keeping Scott from rolling out the tweets and wishing all of Florida luck on the first day of the school year.
It's a big day! Most Florida teachers & students head back to school today. Good luck! #BacktoSchool
— Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) August 18, 2014
Of course, he fails to mention the $1.3 billion his administration slashed in education. But Twitter does only allow 140 characters, so maybe he ran out of space.
It's a wonder Scott is leading any poll anywhere at all.
But then again, Florida.
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