For awhile now it's been apparent that none of the four major GOP candidates for U.S. Senate in Florida have struck a wide chord with the base, which is why a never elected candidate like retired Colonel Mike McCalister has led in some of the polls in the early going.
Such dire pickings has led some analysts to speculate that a Tom Lee or Rick Baker might get into the race, so lackluster were the pickins' when Democrat Bill Nelson still can't get over 50 percent in his own approval ratings.
Fort Myers area Congressman Connie Mack IV announced earlier this year that he would run for higher office, but seeing the obvious – that there was a void in the race – his advisers announced two weeks ago that he would be getting back into it.
That entrance has changed the race dramatically, based on a new Quinnipiac poll released Friday morning, that shows Mack – in the words of John McCain circa 2000- beating the rest of the field like a drum, as he has taken a 23 percentage point lead over his next closest rival, former U.S. Senator George LeMieux.
The rankings have Mack at 32 percent, LeMieux at 9 percent, McCalister at 6 percent, and Adam Hasner and Craig Miller at a desultory 2 percent.
This article appears in Nov 10-16, 2011.
