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Fresh Squeezed Politics - March On Politics Blog

Scott ducks on Taj Mahal, Carroll on immigration

Posted Sep 3, 2010 by William March

Updated Sep 3, 2010 at 01:30 PM

Two of the most commonly asked questions on Thursday’s introduction tour by Republican candidate for governor Rick Scott and his new running mate, Jennifer Carroll, were about the $48 million “Taj Mahal” courthouse in Tallahassee and an Arizone-style immigration law—and in Tampa, they blatantly ducked both.

The reasons:

Carroll gets asked about immigration because she’s an immigrant, born in Trinidad, and Scott has made a hard-line stance in favor of an Arizona-style law on illegal aliens a centerpiece of his campaign. It would require law officers to check the immigration status of people if they see probable cause to do so, and raises questions about racial profiling directed against Hispanics.

Scott gets asked about the elaborate, luxuriously appointed new home for Tallahassee’s court of appeals because GOP legislative leaders and candidates including Marco Rubio have been linked to the process of slipping funding through the Legislature at a time when judges and judicial districts throughout the state are having to cut back and possibly lay off employees for budget constraints. Scott’s Democratic opponent, Alex Sink, has called for an audit.

In response to a reporter question about the Taj Mahal, Scott responded by talking for more than 90 seconds about cutting the size of government, examining spending and programs of state agencies, and cutting regulation of businesses. He even brought up expansion of the Panama Canal—“We ought to be the capitol for import-export for Central and South America. So we’ve got to focus on our ports.” But he never mentioned the courthouse, even after the reporter asked a followup, “Forgive me but ... what about the Taj Mahal? That was the question.”

Asked whether she would favor an Arizona-style immigration law, Carroll responded, “I’m an immigrant to this country, came here when I was eight years old. I believe in legal immigration, I believe in the policies that we have that people should follow, so it’s equal and fair to everyone. So that’s what we need to focus on, making sure that our policies are good and that we treat everyone fairly.”

Asked whether that meant “yes,” she said, “I would support our immigration laws that follow the – immigration rules that follow the law. What we have to do is make sure that we do not reward illegal activities.”

Asked whether the law risked causing racial profiling, she said, “I differ with that. What we’re going to do, if we do pass anything or try to get regulation in the state, is going to be to follow the law and not reward bad behavior, not reward illegal activities.”

Scott then jumped in, saying, “We’re completely against anything that would be close to racial profiling. None of us believe in that,” and reiterated his support for an Arizona-style law.

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