Atwater would have won the gubernatorial race comfortably in both 2010 and 2014, with none of the drama that we got with Scott, and he’s a solid conservative as well. I would think that the governorship would be his for the taking in 2018 (not that the Democrats would roll over and die).
As for Nelson’s Senate seat (which I think will be open in 2018, as Nelson is acting like someone who either will run for governor or retire from politics altogether), yeah, Putnam would be a great candidate, with a fine record in Congress and two statewide wins under his belt. But I don’t think that Bondi is as bad as you depict her, and four more years as AG should give her more gravitas. As for Lopez-Cantera, I don’t know enough about him, either, but he might make a good replacement for Ileana Ros-Lehtinen when she finally retires from Congress (or maybe we’ll need him to run in the FL-26 in 2018 if RINO Curbelo coughs up the district in 2016).
I should consider Nelson might retire in 2018, as he will be 76 (and will have been in office continuously, except for a 4 year gap in the early ‘90s, for 46 years). Of course, being that age hasn’t stopped the bipartisan geriatric caucus in the Senate. I’m embarrassed we’ll have a nearly 81-year old Lamar! still parked in the Senate in early 2021, unless we can get President Cruz to offer him an Ambassadorship to Tanzania.
Nelson for Governor? Yuck. Senators seem to have had a lot of luck moving to Governor. Frank Murkowski did it. That scum Dayton did it in a good GOP year 2 years after quitting the Senate because he was a joke. Manchin and Nelson need to be kept out.
As for the pipeline, as 4 “no” rats are being replaced by Republicans I guess it will pass 63-37 next year.