Although he has been in office for more than three years, Gov. Rick Scott will launch a new ad on television re-introducing himself to Florida voters.
The $2.2 million television ad campaign will begin running on Thursday, according to news reports.
In the ad, Scott talks about growing up in a poor family, the struggle for money, and why he cares about jobs.
“I think about my dad’s face when his car got repossessed, my adopted father had a sixth grade education, they [my parents] struggled for money,” Scott says. “I think about my mom and how hard it was for her to put food on the table.”
He is thankful that he had a mom who cared and pushed him, he says.
“So I think about those families. It drives you to everyday get up and say, ‘Ok, what can I do today that’s going to increase the chance that companies are going to hire more people in Florida.'”
In 2010, Scott campaigned using the slogan, “Let’s Get To Work,” but has modified that to saying “Let’s Keep Working.” He also campaigned on the promise of creating 700,000 jobs over seven years. To date, less than 350,000 mostly low-wage jobs, in the service sector, have been created.
Some political analysts suggest that, Scott’s early kick off of television campaign ads are due to his poor poll numbers. He consistently trails gubernatorial candidate, former Republican-now-turned-Democrat, Charlie Crist. A recent University of Florida poll showed Crist ahead by 7 points, 47 percent to Scott’s 40 percent. The UF poll was in line with a recent Quinnipiac Poll which also showed Crist with a comfortable lead.
Scott, a former hospital executive, who resigned as CEO of Columbia/HCA in 1997, amidst a controversy over his company’s Medicare billing practices, was estimated to have a net worth of $218 million in 2010. He spent roughly $75 million of his own money to run for governor that year.
