Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., continues to keep people guessing about his future political plans.
Some Republicans believe Florida's junior senator is aiming to become the chamber's GOP leader after Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Others think Scott is looking to a 2024 presidential run.
"I think it's [a] jump ball in 2024," Eric Fehrnstrom, GOP strategist and former campaign aide to Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, told the Washington Examiner. "It will be a crowded field, and nobody can claim an edge at this very early stage."
Scott told Newsmax late last month that he would remain neutral in a 2024 Republican presidential contest that included former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
As for the top Senate GOP role, Republican strategist John Feehery told the Examiner: "McConnell's not going to be there forever. So I think he's [Scott's] trying to position himself as not running necessarily against McConnell, but also not necessarily being a McConnell person."
Scott currently is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).
In February, he released an 11-point "Plan to Rescue America" for Republicans to use as a blueprint should they take control of the Senate and House in the midterm elections.
That plan was attacked by President Joe Biden and McConnell.
Biden in early May denounced Scott as '"ultra-MAGA."
"If I didn't see the actual document, I'd think I was making it up,'" Biden said of Scott's plan.
Scott began fighting back in May by kicking off a round of paid ads with a 30-second spot entitled "Biden vs. Scott."
Politico reported that McConnell, who has declined to release a party agenda, told Scott during a GOP leadership meeting that the plan gave Democrats ammunition for millions of dollars of ads in the midterms.
Aides close to Scott were not surprised that he announced his "Plan to Rescue America."
"I think if you follow his career closely, when he spent eight years as governor of Florida, he was never the favorite of folks in Tallahassee," NRSC spokesman Chris Hartline told the Examiner.
"He always did stuff his own way. He's not the type of person, in whatever job that he has … who changes the way he thinks about things based on the political pressures that exist."
Before serving as Florida governor, Scott was a healthcare executive. He often has talked about how government should run like a business.
"What Rick Scott brings to the contest is a business background when the economy will probably remain a central issue, as well as the executive leadership experience that comes from being a former governor," Fehrnstrom told the Examiner.
"That will be more important in the minds of voters than the time he has spent as senator, although his service as NRSC chair in this current cycle allows him to travel to early states, meet with important donors, and introduce himself to the activist base."
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