Normally when a candidate isn't running for office and they are publicly humiliated by one of their constituents, they issue a statement. Governor Rick Scott of Florida went one step further and released an attack ad aimed at Cara Jennings, the former Lake City, FL Commissioner who berated him in a Gainesville Starbucks.
The dirtiest campaign ad in a non campaign
The video entitled "Latte Liberal Gets an Earful" was released Friday morning via Facebook and begins with an introduction to the infamous viral video. It then calls Jennings a "terribly rude woman," says she has a "problem," calls her a "self described anarchist" and reveals that she was a former government official who declined to recite the pledge of allegiance.
This all happened in the very first 30 seconds of the video.
The second half of the one-minute long video is devoted to Scott proving that he has created 9,300 jobs in the Gainesville surrounding area and that unemployment has been cut in half since he took office. For added emphasis, Scott added in one last dig. In response to Jennings' "who here has a great job" retort, Scott basically called her unemployed, accused her of trying to live off the system and said that she spent her time in Starbucks surfing the internet and "cursing at customers."
Video backfires big time
Reaction to the video was mostly negative. Thanks to Facebook's new like options, the post got 6.5 thousand 'likes' and 1.3 thousand 'angry' clicks.
Tianna Simmons of Facebook summed up the negative reviews the best. Simmons wrote, "She lashed out on you in the heat of the moment but your office willfully put together this video 24 hours later and then pasted it all over the internet to humiliate her. How classless of you. I am ashamed to call you my governor." The comment got 533 'likes'.
Here's why.
Rick Scott played it calm and cool when Jennings verbally attacked him in the Starbucks but he clearly was either offended or worried about his public persona enough to release an attack against a private citizen, which is unheard of. He then continued to call her names and proved how out of touch he is with the common man by calling her unemployed and accusing her of trying to live off the system.
He didn't address any of her concerns, he only touted his own record. By doing this, Scott basically justified Jennings claim that he is an "a-hole."
It was hard pressed to find one comment in support of the video. Most users agreed that Scott had sunk to a new low with this tactic. However Brenda H. Reichle of Facebook defended Scott saying, "Let me see if I got this right...EX government official, refused to say pledge of allegiance, an anarchist...YELLING certainly not civil... and she (or you Cliff) doesn't think Gov. Scott should respond???? REALLY????" Her point was valid. Jennings was very abrasive towards Scott in her video and she did curse at him. Still, the general public applauded her because she brought out real voter issues and expressed the outrage that the average working Floridian is experiencing daily.
The bigger picture
The greatest fallout from the video could entail Scott losing the support of those who eyed him as a Vice Presidential running mate to Donald Trump. Scott has already endorsed Trump rather than rival republican candidate, Marco Rubio which propelled him to win the state's primary. However, this latest tactic makes him look weak on jobs and immature. Those are two traits that a VP cannot have. Scott has yet to respond to the backlash.
