Mack Touts Praise From Reporter He Often Attacks

Perhaps Connie Mack's Florida Senate campaign is ready to bury the hatchet with Tampa Bay Times politics writer Adam Smith?

The Republican's campaign sent out an email touting the fact that Smith had named Mack "Winner of the week" in Florida politics due to his debate performance against Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. The email pulls this quote from the piece: "The underdog U.S. Senate candidate looked confident, aggressive, and not the least bit intimidated to debate incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson at their one and only televised matchup."

But the campaign does not include a link to the story, and a quick look reveals why: Smith also named Mack "Loser of the week," calling him "shameless about hurling false statements and accusations."

Mack's campaign has waged something of a vendetta against Smith during the race. In July, Mack campaign manager Jeff Cohen wrote a letter to the editor of the Tampa Bay Times after failing to get their endorsement, saying, "Adam Smith and your newspaper have been waging a tireless campaign against conservatives and Republicans. You always have and apparently you always will. It's evident in every political story you write."

Cohen also sent a press release in the form of a letter to Smith, containing the line, "Once again you are acting like Bill Nelson's Communications Director doing opposition research on your opponent while ignoring the record of your own candidate.

Mack refused to participate in a Tampa Bay Times debate, questioning the paper's fairness.


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