What Chiles Dropping Out Means to Sink

Bud Chiles has officially announced he will not run for governor.

“I need to be able to look people in the face and really believe in my heart that this was a campaign I could win and really be viable,” Chiles told the Times/Herald. “I just got to the point where it was difficult for me to do that.”

According to a Public Policy Polling poll: Chiles withdrawing might actually help Rick Scott.

-Voted for John McCain by a 62/33 margin in 2008
-Disapprove of Barack Obama by a 69/31 margin
-Were 47% Republican, 30% Democratic, and 23% independent

The voters leaning toward Chiles fit the pattern of older white men that voted for Ralph Nader in 2004 and 2008. These voters mistrust government and are generally conservative. Nader pulled progressive voters in 2000 who were frustrated with Al Gore and neoliberalism. The progressives moved away from Nader out of fear of helping Republicans win the White House. Which happened in 2004, but not because of Nader.

60 percent of the Chiles leaning voters in the PPP poll have an unfavorable opinion of Rick Scott. They supported Chiles because he was an outsider. Not because of his policies. Don't expect these voters to suddenly become Alex Sink fans.