Republicans cancel Florida governor Rick Scott’s convention speech, blaming hurricane. Nothing to do with his 8% approval rating.

Florida governor Rick Scott has announced that his planned speech at this week’s Republican National Convention has been canceled, citing the looming Hurricane Isaac and the resulting need to shorten up the convention’s length. It couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that Scott’s approval rating is among the lowest in the nation, could it? After winning a three-way race for governor in 2010, Rick Scott quickly saw support dry up from all sides as it turned out that the career criminal who once got caught stealing billions from Medicare when he worked in the private sector had only run for governor so he could raid the state pension fund for teachers, policemen, and firefighters. And now, after having been surprisingly given a speaking slot at the RNC, it’s been conveniently taken away…

The Florida governor has largely been considered radioactive even among those in his own party. Although his approval rating has rebounded to 41%, it had at one point been in the twenties. Florida’s lack of a recall process is cited as the only reason he’s still in office, and he’s considered to have no chance of being reelected. But with the republican convention in Tampa, Florida in 2012, it would have been more of a controversy if republican Scott wasn’t invited to speak at the convention. With the hurricane headed toward Florida and likely to make landfall during the convention, the party was given an easy out for shoving Scott off the podium and out the door. They appear to have decided to allow him to save face by announcing that he himself was canceling his own speech for the benefit of emergency preparedness. Fat chance of that.