Ralph Nader Comes Out Hard Against Rick Scott, Doesn't Say a Word About Charlie Crist

Usually a high-profile politician coming out against your opponent is a good thing. Unless you're Democrat Charlie Crist, and the guy attacking your opponent is Ralph Nader.

Because, as we found out here in Florida back in 2000, left-leaning people who listen to Ralph Nader don't necessarily vote for Democrats.

Nader, the consumer-advocate-turned-perennial-presidential also-ran and sometimes spoiler, issued a lengthy nine-point statement against Rick Scott today, spelling out why he believes Scott is the wrong choice for Florida.

Here's a selection of the nine "Florida values" that Nader thinks Scott lacks.

1. FLORIDA VALUE: Rewarding Hard Work

Floridians don't want handouts they believe in working for a living. That's why they believe in a fair day's wage for a fair day's work. Rick Scott has dodged questions on the minimum wage and has even said that the push for a raise in the minimum wage makes him "cringe." He sees no problem in the fact that Florida's $7.93 minimum wage has eroded, adjusted for inflation, by three dollars over the past decades.

4. FLORIDA VALUE: Education

Floridians value education. Rick Scott's budget leaves public schools with $356 less per student, adjusted for inflation,

than the previous Governor's final budget. Despite aggressive watchdogging of public school teachers, he has failed to hold private charter schools profiteers accountable.

9. FLORIDA VALUE: Fair markets

Floridians want their markets to be fair: they do not want corporate cronyist policies that have little effect on broadening prosperity.Rick Scott has pledged $266 million in corporate tax breaks in return for 45,258 new jobs, but over 96 percent of the alleged jobs have yet to materialize, as reported by the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times after investigating hundreds of Scott's adhoc "job creation" deals. Take Colt's Manufacturing Company for example: Scott spent $250,000 renovating their Kissimmee warehouse, but the building remains empty. Or Redpine Healthcare Technologies: they got $400,000 from Scott and a congratulatory note, but the jobs never arrived. As Floridians head to the polls this November, I hope they keep these facts in mind about how Governor Scott has opposed these longstanding Florida values.

The rest can be read here.

This is not an endorsement of Crist, of course.

In fact, Nader can't even bring himself to use Crist's name. He's only mentioned as "the previous Governor."

Which means people who are convinced by this will probably either vote for third party also-rans Glenn Burkett, Farid Khavari, and Adrian Wyllie, as is the Nader-voter way.

Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes.