A few weeks ago Charlie Crist told CNN that he thought the Affordable Care Act was "great." Today the Rick Scott re-election campaign team is beginning to air an ad bashing Crist for supporting the ACA, though his facts have been called "mostly false" by PolitiFact.
In response, the Crist camp is airing a new digital ad today that doubles down on his support - though it never mentions the law itself.
Speaking for the campaign on a conference call to discuss the ad was former Democratic House Minority Leader and state Senator Dan Gelber. He downplayed the omission of naming the Affordable Care Act in the ad, though it clearly promotes the most positive aspects of the law, which still remains underwater in polls amongst Floridians.
"We believe that we should be able to make the law work," said Gelber."Charlie Crist believes a leader works with both parties..and he is not prepared to play politics to deny people these benefits," referring to the half a million Floridians who have signed up for the ACA.
Scott's new ad is his second that's being aired on state-wide television, while Crist has yet to do so, prompting several questions by reporters on the call about when they will begin doing so. Spokesman Kevin Cate said the campaign wasn't exactly sure when that would happen.
In response to a question that the ad is negative in tone, Gelber disagreed, calling it a response ad that's forceful - and appropriate. "This is not a nuanced ad," he said. "This is simply pointing out to Floridians that the ad that Rick Scott put on was misleading and false... We're not playing any nuanced games here."
This morning the Republican Party of Florida released an email release titled, "How big is the paycheck," referring to how Crist told a South Florida television program recently that he lives "paycheck to paycheck." The release features Morgan & Morgan head John Morgan as saying "You better ask him" about how much Crist made while working for his firm, as well as showing a photo of a Rolex watch Crist is wearing in a photo, as well as another photo of Crist's second home in Miami, and a picture of him traveling in a limousine.
"Utterly sophomoric," Gelber responded. And he said that the reason the Scott campaign needs to spend millions on television ads while Crist doesn't (yet) is that Floridians first impressions of both men are set, and the results aren't good for Scott. "They've got to spend money to convince people that their first impression of Rick Scott is wrong," he said..
In response, the Crist camp is airing a new digital ad today that doubles down on his support - though it never mentions the law itself.
Speaking for the campaign on a conference call to discuss the ad was former Democratic House Minority Leader and state Senator Dan Gelber. He downplayed the omission of naming the Affordable Care Act in the ad, though it clearly promotes the most positive aspects of the law, which still remains underwater in polls amongst Floridians.
"We believe that we should be able to make the law work," said Gelber."Charlie Crist believes a leader works with both parties..and he is not prepared to play politics to deny people these benefits," referring to the half a million Floridians who have signed up for the ACA.
Scott's new ad is his second that's being aired on state-wide television, while Crist has yet to do so, prompting several questions by reporters on the call about when they will begin doing so. Spokesman Kevin Cate said the campaign wasn't exactly sure when that would happen.
In response to a question that the ad is negative in tone, Gelber disagreed, calling it a response ad that's forceful - and appropriate. "This is not a nuanced ad," he said. "This is simply pointing out to Floridians that the ad that Rick Scott put on was misleading and false... We're not playing any nuanced games here."
This morning the Republican Party of Florida released an email release titled, "How big is the paycheck," referring to how Crist told a South Florida television program recently that he lives "paycheck to paycheck." The release features Morgan & Morgan head John Morgan as saying "You better ask him" about how much Crist made while working for his firm, as well as showing a photo of a Rolex watch Crist is wearing in a photo, as well as another photo of Crist's second home in Miami, and a picture of him traveling in a limousine.
"Utterly sophomoric," Gelber responded. And he said that the reason the Scott campaign needs to spend millions on television ads while Crist doesn't (yet) is that Floridians first impressions of both men are set, and the results aren't good for Scott. "They've got to spend money to convince people that their first impression of Rick Scott is wrong," he said..