Gov. Rick Scott last week predicted that the winner of Florida’s Presidency 5 straw poll would not only take the Republican presidential nomination, but would go on to become the next president of the United States.
“I believe whoever wins this straw poll on Saturday will be the Republican nominee and I believe the Republican nominee will be the next president,” Scott told Fox and Friends host Gretchen Carlson, while being interviewed in The Villages.
Saturday’s P5 straw poll results were startling, to say the least. Though it was widely predicted that Texas Gov. Rick Perry (whom Scott has name-checked as a gubernatorial role model) would take the lead at P5, it was underdog Herman Cain who topped the straw poll, with 37 percent of the vote. (Perry finished a distant second, with 15 percent.)
Cain did put in a stellar showing at Presidency 5 and CPAC FL in Orlando. Not only did Rick Perry flounder during Thursday’s debate, but he didn’t stick around for the final day of events — in which attendees heard from each candidate and then voted in the straw poll.
Whether or not the Cain train will maintain its momentum is unclear, but Scott isn’t backing away from his claim that whoever wins Florida will also win the White House.
“The Governor has repeatedly said that the candidate who best articulates a plan to create jobs and turn America’s economy around will be the next president of the United States,” Scott communications director Brian Burgess writes in an email. “Herman Cain did exactly that at P5. The race is wide open, and the Governor believes that the candidate who wins Florida will win the White House.”
