Florida governor's race will be tale of 2 economies [View all]

[Baitball Blogger]

TALLAHASSEE — Floridians may want to brace themselves gastronomically for a factually overcooked 2014 gubernatorial fight centered on the trajectory of the economy. So here's a double dose of antacid. Gov. Rick Scott's campaign, the Republican Party of Florida and surrogates already have revealed their ingredients: claiming credit for Florida's economic turnaround and blaming former governor-turned-Democratic challenger Charlie Crist for digging the hole.

Crist and veterans of President Barack Obama's national political machine will argue Florida's situation would have been worse if Crist had not made hard budgetary decisions — accepting billions of dollars in stimulus cash to keep teachers employed, for example.

Both narratives take liberties with economic theory and recent history

First the economic reality: Florida's recovery, while very real, is spurred by global and national conditions — consumer confidence, corporate profits and gross domestic product, for example — leading to increased tourism and population migration into the state.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-capview-column-deslatte122913-20131227,0,7510043.column