In an unusually hard-hitting editorial, theTampa Bay Timescalls Gov. Rick Scott the "Tin Man as governor, a chief executive who shows no heartfelt connection to the state, appreciation for its values or compassion for its residents."
The editorial cites a long list of examples, including allowing Duke Energy to charge customers for nuclear plans that were never built, purging voter roles for partisan interests, rejecting $2.4 billion in federal money for high-speed rail and failing to push the legislature to accept $51 billion in federal funds to give 1 million low-income uninsured Floridians health insurance.
The editorial mentions that Scott came to Florida only seven years before running for governor, and being an unknown, spent $73 million to win the election -- an event likened to a "hostile takeover."
The Times says that in three years, "Scott has done more harm than any modern governor.'