Gubernatorial hopeful: Protesters ‘kind of cool’
RIVIERA BEACH — Agriculture Commissioner and Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam had already visited eight cities on his campaign kickoff bus tour, but not until he spoke at a breakfast gathering at the city marina on Monday did his campaign reach a critical milestone.
“I t hi nk we’ve a r r ive d. We’ve hit the big time. I’ve never had protesters before; it’s kind of cool,” Putnam told his supporters as a handful of demonstrators stood near the open-air gathering. One carried a sign that depicted Putnam with a mustache and missing tooth.
“I’ve never seen myself with a mustache,” said the youthful-looking Putnam.
P u t n a m, who f o r mal ly launched his campaign in picturesque fashion last week, spoke to about 60 people at the marina, then dropped in on Howley’s in West Palm Beach before his bus rolled on to Fort Lauderdale and Miami.
Putnam said Florida needs to stick with “conservative leadership” to expand its econ- omy. Republicans have controlled the governor’s mansion since 1999. Putnam, the agriculture commissioner since 2011, has been supportive of term-limited Gov. Rick Scott‘s focus on jobs, but he said the state needs to diversify beyond its base of agriculture, tourism and construction.
“Florida can bring jobs back to build things, create things, innovate things,” Putnam said. “When we take our eye off the ball for creating jobs, then everything else goes sideways. But when we focus as a state on making Florida a haven for free enterprise, low taxes, low regulation and the launch pad for the American dream so that people start their businesses here, grow their businesses here and find their piece of the American dream here, everything is possible in the Sunshine State.”
P ut nam added: “We’re always one elec tion away from losing that conservative culture. … Nothing is more important than the passion of grassroots to form and create a movement to protect the gains that we’ve made under conservative leadership in our state and take us to the next level.”
In an interview, Putnam said he disagreed with the Florida Legislature’s decision to eliminate money for Scott’s favorite Enterprise Florida business-incentive program and slash funding for the Visit Florida program to promote tourism.
“I support having Enterprise Florida in a position to compete shamelessly, to grow more jobs inside the state and bring jobs from other places. And Visit Florida is another vital part of continuing the momentum of the strength of our tourism industry. We can’t get complacent and we can’t take it for granted,” Putnam said.
But Putnam said if he were governor this year, he would not veto the entire $83 billion budget — a possibility Scott dangled last week. Putnam recommended that Scott use a “big, bold line-item veto” on portions of the budget, but he called an overall veto a “blunt force that throws so many education and health care program into chaos.”