Report: Connie Mack campaign falters because of 'cockiness'

The Washington Post used the announcement that Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater may run against Sen. Bill Nelson to analyze another GOP challenger — Rep. Connie Mack.

Early on, Republicans saw Mack as a real contender against the sitting Democratic senator, the Post reports. But now the campaign has lost its shine.

As always, it’s never one thing that leads a candidate to struggle. But, in conversations with a number of leading Florida Republican strategists they point to cockiness as Mack’s downfall — painting a picture of a candidate too confident to interact well with donors, activists or the press.

“The whole entitled sense of ‘Kiss the ring’ comes across in screaming clarity at every event,” said one experienced Florida strategist.

Mack stumped for Mitt Romney in Jacksonville during the Republican presidential primary, so there's a chance the former Massachusetts governor could return the favor. Time will tell.

Former Sen. George LeMieux and businessman Mike McCalister also seek the Republican nomination.

I’ve never liked Connie Mack IV. I had advocated casting a protest vote for Mike McCalister before supporting Mack in the general. But now another well-known Republican may jump in the race.

Mack is claiming that he’s being portrayed unfairly by the state MSM, notably the Tampy Bay Times and the Miami Herald. It may be true, given the flagrant media bias of our times.

>> I’ve never liked Connie Mack IV. I had advocated casting a protest vote for Mike McCalister before supporting Mack in the general. But now another well-known Republican may jump in the race. <<

I USED to like Connie Mack IV but can't stand him now. I've made my position of ABM4 (Anyone But Mack IV) in the primary clear, but haven't endorsed a specific candidate and I'm still weighing the options to determine who's the best choice.

The PPP poll numbers do seem to reinforce my point that the "Mack is more electable" argument is B.S. Polling a mere 2 points higher against the RAT than McCallister does (and both are trailing the RAT by a significant margin at this point and haven't sealed the deal with voters) makes his alleged "electability" meaningless.

This poll contradicts most of the earlier polls (which showed Mack leading Nelson and the other Republicans nipping at Nelson’s heels), and given that it was done by the Democrats at PPP, I would take it with a handful of salt. I suspect that Mack would have an easier time beating Nelson than would McCalister or RINO Pepe Le Mieux.

My preference would be for a well known, experienced conservative (the type that would be a strong general-election candidate) to enter the race. I was hoping that Allen West would run, but he’s running for reelection to the House (in a slightly different district). I also thought of Commissioner of Agriculture (and former 5-term congressman) Adam Putnam (who has all that experience yet is only 37 years old!) and Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, but neither one expressed interest.

However, there is another conservative who could beat Mack in a primary and Nelson in the general, and this one actually is considering entering the race: former FL Senate President Jeff Atwater. http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/403455/mike-marino/2012-04-17/florida-cfo-jeff-atwater-mulling-run-us-senate Atwater was elected statewide in 2010 as the state’s Chief Financial Officer, and prior to that served 8 years in the state Senate (the last two as its president). He is well known across the state, is popular among both economic and social conservatives without pissing off moderates (his state senate district was in Broward and Palm Beach Counties), and I believe that he would make a far better Senator than would Connie Mack IV. I hope he decides to run.

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