Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera energized the faithful in a rousing speech Monday night to The Villages Tea Party at Savannah Center.
He quickly ticked off the accomplishments of his boss, Gov. Rick Scott, most importantly the creation of more than 600,000 jobs under his watch.
And he said the governor made a common sense decision to cut taxes.
“Gov. Scott recogizes that if you give $1 to a hardworking family, they know how to turn it into $2. Government knows how to take $1 and turn it into 50 cents,” he said.
He said Scott took decisive action at a time when Florida sorely needed it.
“Leadership matters,” Lopez-Cantera said.
“This election is going to be a choice between someone who talks a lot, and someone who takes action,” he said.
He said Scott’s leadership is a stark contrast to the lack of leadership he said Charlie Crist showed when he occupied the governor’s mansion.
“He didn’t care about being governor. The first two years he tried to be vice president. The second two years, he tried to be a U.S. Senator,” the lieutenant governor told the crowd.
But he said, winning won’t be easy and will require the volunteer efforts of groups like The Villages Tea Party.
He said thus far the Scott campaign has knocked on 1 million doors and called 1.5 million homes. That far exceeds the numbers the Mitt Romney presidential campaign put up in 2012, he added.
State Sen. Alan Hays, who served in the Legislature with Lopez-Cantera, echoed the lieutenant governor’s sense of urgency.
“It’s not just important that we get Rick Scott re-elected. It is imperative,” Hays said.
