Paula Dockery or no Paula Dockery, Attorney General Bill McCollum says that as far as he’s concerned, the race for governor is between him and CFO Alex Sink.

With Dockery, R-Lakeland, filing papers to challenge McCollum in the GOP primary, reporters quizzed McCollum at a press conference this morning about the implications for his campaign.

Dockery’s challenge is not unexpected, he said, and it’s a free country; anyone can run who wants to. But he’s firmly focused, he said, on running against Sink.

Last month, McCollum spoke candidly about the prospect of a primary challenge—noting the obvious, which is, no candidate wants one.

Today, the AG wouldn’t delve into a comparative analysis of his qualifications versus Dockery’s. “I will tell you that as your Attorney General, and as a candidate for governor, I believe that the next governor of Florida needs to be somebody who has the leadership qualities to lead this state through a very difficult time, that Florida needs to be a better state in the future and that, in order to do that, we need to create an economic climate that allows the state to lure business, grow business and create jobs. I wouldn’t be running if I didn’t think I had the qualifications to do that job—by experience, and by example.”

McCollum predicted that Sink will eventually face a primary challenge as well. “But it seems to me that it’s apparent to everybody that the two leading contenders ... are, and will remain, myself on the Republican side, and Alex Sink on the Democrats’ side.”

Does the existence of Republican primaries in the races for U.S. Senate, governor and Cabinet positions indicate a dangerous rift in the party? No, McCollum said. “We’re having a great discussion within our party.”

What’s McCollum’s level of confidence in GOP Chairman Jim Greer? McCollum offered this perfunctory response: “Jim Greer’s my party chairman. I’m not going to describe it other than saying I work with him every day, and I have a good relationship with him.”

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