Rep. Connie Mack Shakes Up 2012 U.S Senate Race in Florida

It is now official: U.S. Congressman Connie Mack has entered the 2012 U.S Senate race to challenge incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson in Florida. Long-time heavily entrenched Democrat Nelson was leading by a wide margin in recent polling against what many considered to be a weak field of inexperienced Republicans with little to no name recognition up until this point, which currently includes Army Col. Mike McCalister, former state Rep. Adam Hasner, former Ruth’s Chris Steak House CEO Craig Miller and former Sen. George LeMieux.

Connie Mack has both name recognition and a wealth of experience serving in the Florida House of Representatives from 2000 – 2003 before being elected to the U.S. Congress in 2004. His father was also a former U.S. Senator. Mack is also a solid conservative who has has worked to support the free market system and reduce the size and scope of the federal government’s interference with our personal freedoms. Mack believes that the private sector, and not the government, creates new jobs, and he has been a vocal opponent of the countless financial sector bailouts, the failed stimulus plan and the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac takeover. He has also been very vocal in calling for the repeal of Obama-care.

While Mack has the experience of a total of eleven years of being an elected official, he also carries the air of a true conservative fighting against the big government agenda of Senator Bill Nelson’s Liberal Democratic party. It will be very interesting to see how Floridians feel towards Rep. Mack’s U.S. Senate bid in the upcoming polls. The most recent Shark Tank Senate Republican Primary poll shows Adam Hasner leading with over 51%, Col Mike McCalister in second at 26.5% and current Senator George LeMieux at 15.8%.

Currently, Adam Hasner appears to have had the most support from the Republican party in Florida, even though Senator John McCain threw his early support behind the Charlie Crist re-make in George LeMieuz whom Crist appointed when he was Governor. Fill-in Senator LeMieux is fading and will not be a real contender in this primary. Connie Mack’s emergence will surely take some support from Hasner, while also cutting Col. Mike McCalister’s chances for election dramatically.

 Rep. Mack has a lifetime American Conservative Union rating of 93.3 percent and has been a prominent advocate for cutting federal spending. Mack spoke out against Arizona’s immigration law in 2010 which could prove problematic to many conservative Republican voters in Florida. In 2009, Mack also joined the misguided GOP establishment in supporting the Republican-turned-Independent-turned-Liberal Charlie Crist’s bid against eventual winner Marco Rubio in the 2010 U.S. Senate election.

Big Government Liberal Bill Nelson already has about $8 million dollars in his war chest for reelection, due in large part to his longtime connections with DC lobbyists and crony-capitalists that are at the very root of today’s massive national debt of $15 trillion dollars. Connie Mack’s conservative credentials should allow him to quickly raise enough cash to put up a stiff challenge for Bill Nelson’s current U.S. Senate seat in the upcoming elections, and as we saw in the 2010 mid-term elections, the candidate with the most money doesn’t guarantee them a win here in Florida. Should Mack defeat front-running Hasner in the primaries, then the 2012 Florida U.S. Senate race will simply come down to a choice of two candidates: Incumbent Senator Bill Nelson’s record of big government Liberal debt-spending vs. the solidly conservative Connie Mack’s message of a limited government that allows the free market system to enhance American freedom and prosperity for all.

 

 

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Rich Mitchell

Rich Mitchell is the editor-in-chief of Conservative Daily News and the president of Bald Eagle Media, LLC. His posts may contain opinions that are his own and are not necessarily shared by Bald Eagle Media, CDN, staff or .. much of anyone else. Find him on twitter, facebook and

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