Mayor Bob Buckhorn, to be sure, knows his way around a sound bite. Tampa’s Democratic CEO and cheerleader-in-chief also knows his way around pragmatic politics.
He has friends and political supporters on both sides of the aisle, and playing partisan politics is not in Tampa’s best interest. If, for example, a profile-raising, economically-impacting national political convention happens to be the GOP’s, so be it. If a nine-figure grant for TIA renovations happens to come with a Gov. Rick Scott ribbon-cutting, so be it.
So, it took some observers aback to hear Mayor Bob recently call out Scott and the Republican Legislature for its unconscionable dereliction of duty on Medicaid expansion and the state budget mess.
“Shame on this governor,” said Buckhorn. “Shame on this Legislature. They need to get back to work.”
Two takeaways:
First, it’s that bad up there. Even a number of Republicans agree. Second, Mayor Bob is term limited–and may have a state race in his future. Better name recognition helps–and running against Tallahassee can be a winner.