FL: Unknowns With Deep Pockets Surge

A new Quinnipiac poll shows two political novices with deep pockets making strong headway in both Florida's Senate and gubernatorial contests.

In the Senate Democratic primary, billionaire Jeff Greene (D) now just trails Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) 29% to 27%, with 37% undecided. Greene has been loaning his campaign money to air a series of ads since he entered the race last month.

This surge is probably good news for Democrats, because polls have shown Meek to be a non-factor in the three-way Senate race against Gov. Charlie Crist (I) and Marco Rubio (R), consistently pulling in less than 20%. Greene could inject some energy (i.e., money) into the race that Democrats had all but given up on.

In the gubernatorial GOP primary, former health care executive Rick Scott (R) has pulled ahead of establishment favorite Attorney General Bill McCollum (R) 44% to 31% (!).

Politico reports that Scott "has already spent more than $11 million on television ads pitching himself as a political outsider with business experience and attacking McCollum as a career politician. McCollum has countered with television ads featuring an endorsement from former Gov. Jeb Bush and has attacked Scott over a Medicare fraud case his company settled with the federal government for $1.7 billion."

While Scott's large lead may be a fluke (the last two polls of the race had McCollum with large leads), it at least confirms that Scott will be a factor in the primary and has a serious shot at the nomination.

With the August 24 primary still more than two months away, both Greene and Scott have plenty of time to keep buying up airtime and introducing themselves to the voters (or attack their opponents, whichever they decide).

Money can't buy you votes, but it can certainly give you a huge head start on nabbing voters early.