Preview Of Sen. Bill Nelson's Battle Against Connie Mack
MIAMI (CBSMiami) — "Bill Nelson…Fighting for Florida," that's the tag line for Senator Bill Nelson's television ad campaign in his race for the senate. The two term senator is also fighting to keep his job. He's up against Republican Congressman Connie Mack, right now…polls show the race is pretty tight.
Macks ads try to capture voters who are opposed to President Obama. "Bill Nelson and Barack Obama...lockstep liberals," that's the the theme of Mack's argument against Nelson.
While Mack may paint Nelson as a Senator to the left, Nelson calls himself a moderate who can cut through Washington gridlock. "You can't govern a country like ours unless you can respect the other fellow's point of view," said Nelson, "and then you work out your differences and you build a bi partisan consensus. That's what I've done my whole political life and that's what we're going to do to break the gridlock."
Nelson says Florida voters do not want anyone too far to the left or right representing them in Washington. "Florida's not in the extremes of the political system," said Nelson. "Florida is a mainstream political thought state."
Nelson's priorities include job creation, energy independence, and deficit reduction. He also sees himself as a protector of social security and medicare. He wants to simplify the tax code, close loopholes for oil and gas companies and big corporations. He's also calling for a "pay as you go" spending plan and a balanced budget amendment.
One of Nelson's biggest attacks against his opponent is Mack's voting record. "He doesn't like to show up for work!" Nelson alleges. "He has missed this year, 178 votes, I have missed one vote."
