TALLAHASSEE If the race for governor were a popularity contest, Adrian Wyllie would feel good about his odds. <\/p>\n
Wyllie, 44, a former radio host and IT consultant from Palm Harbor, is taking the longest of long shots by running on the Libertarian Party ticket. But by virtue of a Florida's scorched-earth gubernatorial contest, he may just have a chance to swing the outcome. <\/p>\n
The two major-party candidates current Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Charlie Crist are beating themselves silly with a barrage of negative commercials. Surveys have shown voters don't really care for either. <\/p>\n
\"People are so disgusted by the Republican-Democrat duopoly right now. People don't like either of these guys,\" Wyllie said. <\/p>\n
Florida witnessed a historically close gubernatorial election in 2010 when Scott inched out a victory over Democrat Alex Sink by 1.2 percent of the vote. This year, the electorate remains divided and disgruntled. <\/p>\n
\"Anybody that can pull 1 or 2 percent in either direction can affect the outcome,\" said University of South Florida political scientist Susan MacManus. <\/p>\n
Wyllie gregarious, confident and quick to crack jokes decided to skip the business and school photo ops to barnstorm through three dozen microbreweries last month. <\/p>\n
Inspired by breweries standing up to legislative efforts to increase regulations last spring, Wyllie drew stout crowds and hearty applause with his pledge to \"get government out of your wallet, out of your bedroom and out of your business.\" <\/p>\n
But Florida politics isn't a beer-hall popularity contest. It's a mega-money-fueled, statistically modeled, head-butting, art-of-war affair between major political institutions and interests. <\/p>\n
It is doctors and insurers vs. trial lawyers. It is Big Sugar vs. environmentalist million- and billionaires. It is a media orgy of attack ads burning through millions of dollars a week in Florida's 10 television markets. <\/p>\n
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Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Adrian Wyllie tries to get noticed<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" TALLAHASSEE If the race for governor were a popularity contest, Adrian Wyllie would feel good about his odds. Wyllie, 44, a former radio host and IT consultant from Palm Harbor, is taking the longest of long shots by running on the Libertarian Party ticket. Continue reading