2014 Florida Governor's race: on Foreign Policy


Rick Scott: Cuba's Castros are terrorists; don't travel there

In the debate, both Crist and Scott went on the attack over everything from personal wealth to political positions. And they renewed their long fight over the economy with Scott blaming Crist (when he was governor) for the economic meltdown that cost Florida hundred of thousands of jobs. Crist fired back that he had no more to do with the meltdown than Scott had to do with economic recovery.

As the debate wore on, the two did talk about deep differences in their policy positions. On Cuba, for example, Crist said he would support lifting the embargo because "it hasn't worked" in ending the rule of the Castro brothers. Scott called the Castros "terrorists" and said he wouldn't travel to Cuba.

Source: Orlando Sentinel on 2014 Florida Gubernatorial debate Oct 21, 2014

Charlie Crist: Lift the Cuban embargo; it has failed for 50 years

Crist announced his support for lifting the US trade embargo against Cuba, a policy shift that shows how far the former Republican has moved since switching parties. "The embargo has done nothing in more than 50 years to change the regime in Cuba," Crist said. "If we want to bring democracy to Cuba, we need to encourage American values & investment there."

When asked about the influential Cuban bloc of voters, most of whom oppose restoring normalcy with Cuba, Crist denounced the trade embargo as an ineffective relic. "I don't think it worked," Crist said. "We need to move forward and get the embargo taken away."

Crist said lifting the embargo would be a boon for his state. "A lot of construction would be required, and South Florida could be the launching pad for all of that," he said.

Crist's statements are a complete reversal of his previous position. In 2010, Crist said he not only opposed removing the trade embargo, but he also was against loosening travel restrictions to Cuba.

Source: PoliticalTicker.com on 2014 Florida governor's race Feb 8, 2014

  • The above quotations are from 2014 Florida Gubernatorial debates and race coverage.
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  • Click here for more quotes by Rick Scott on Foreign Policy.
  • Click here for more quotes by Charlie Crist on Foreign Policy.
Candidates and political leaders on Foreign Policy:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Dec 06, 2018