Race to the Top (RttT) is a federal program designed to inject money into states’ education coffers while placing a centrally-controlled, one-size-fits-all education standard on the nation. It would be more aptly named The Race to Cede Control of our Children’s Education to Unelected Bureaucrats in Washington.

Will this be another stimulus boondoggle? Perhaps. Historically speaking, we can surmise why this spending program will fail to meet its objectives. For example, we can look at No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to find warm-and-fuzzy euphemisms for programs that have failed. Or we can review the budget of the Department of Education (ED), which consistently funnels less that 10% of its funding into classrooms.

Central control of education has never been effective.

Last Spring, teachers and parents across Florida began to see that the traditional left-right paradigm is no longer working. Republican legislators, normally against top-down management, lined up in support of the controversial education bill SB6. One of my opponents, Marco Rubio, stood in line with Jeb Bush as the Republican legislature shoved SB6 through, despite the cries from parents and teachers across the State. Why? Because they wanted to compete for federal RttT dollars which would require local schools to take direction from Washington.

Many teachers I’ve spoken with have been disappointed by President Obama’s pick for Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, who has expanded many of the programs that started with George Bush and NCLB, and continued to amass control of education in Washington at the expense of local communities.

It made national news when my opponent, Charlie Crist, broke from the Republicans and vetoed the bill based on a political calculation to garner support from the teachers unions. Crist has once again flip-flopped when he learned that Florida is a finalist in the Race to the Top (RttT) education grants.

“This would be a tremendous infusion of resources into our schools at a time when budgets are tight,” Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday. “It would benefit Florida’s students and teachers in a substantial way.”

Kendrick Meek is on board, too, willing to take the federal bribe.

Make no mistake; SB6, merit-pay, NCLB, and RttT, are all about taking control away from parents and academic freedom from teachers. I am the only candidate for U.S. Senate to publicly state that, if elected, I will vote against any further legislation that will take the power away from families’ right to choose the education that best suits them. I am solidly against both RttT and NCLB.

Ideally, I believe we can get government out of the education business altogether, and provide a better quality education at a lower cost per student. In the interim, local control and influence is the best way for a public school to function. It ensures that the people of that community are able to hold their local officials accountable for decisions regarding their children’s education.

The federal government offering vast sums of tax dollars to states is simply a carrot and stick method to nationalize our local schools. Unfortunately, many governors and local school boards have taken the bait, and are willing to cede authority to solve temporary budget shortfalls.

If Washington really cared about the education of our children, they would disband the ED and all its programs immediately. This begs the question: Do politicians and officials really care about our kids?

No, and why would they? They care about getting reelected, and reappointed, and are willing to use your own tax money to buy your vote from you. Are you willing to sell it at the cost of educational quality?

I’d hope not, and I’d also hope that my rivals for Florida’s U.S. Senate seat will stop asking you to do so.

When: Sunday, August 1st – From: 6-8pm
Where: The Grove Spot – 3324 Virginia St, Miami, FL 33133

When: Sunday, August 1st – From: 1-5pm
Where: Elk’s Lodge – 6304 SW 78th St, Miami, FL 33143

When: Thursday, July 29 – From: 5-7pm
Where: Tampa Bay History Center – 801 Old Water St., Tampa, FL 33602

When: Tuesday, July 27 – From: 11:30am-1:30pm
Where: DoubleTree Hotel – 4500 W Cypress St, Tampa, FL 33607

When: Monday, July 26 – From: 6-9pm
Where: Stone Chase – 12227 W. Linebaugh Ave., Tampa, FL 33626

When: Saturday, July 24 – From:11:30am-2pm
Where: Spring Hill Lanes – 3447 Commercial Way(US19), Spring Hill, FL 34606

In a poll released Thursday by Rasmussen Reports, the pollster once again left Snitker’s name off the survey, their sixth poll in the last two months to exclude him. In response, Snitker said, “Scott Rasmussen is intentionally skewing the poll so to create the most favorable outcome for Marco Rubio.”

As evidence, Snitker points to multiple results from Rasmussen polls that show Rubio with a lead over Charlie Crist, despite recent results from Public Policy Polling (PPP), Ipsos/Reuters, Quinnipiac, and other major pollsters showing Crist with a five to nine point lead.

Rasmussen’s decision to exclude his name from their polls, coupled with his consistent results in favor of Rubio, is all the evidence Snitker needs. “Scott Rasmussen is nothing more than a shill for the GOP and his polling data should be considered flawed,” said Snitker.

Rasmussen may already be feeling the heat from the Snitker campaign. Earlier this month, campaign volunteers inundated Rasmussen with phone calls and emails urging them to include Snitker in their next poll. Campaign volunteer coordinator Bev Baker estimated that Rasmussen received hundreds of calls and emails over the course of a few days. “We asked Alex’s supporters to contact Rasmussen, and they responded in droves,” said Baker.

Debra Falk of Rasmussen Reports said that they heard Snitker’s supporters “loud and clear,” and added, “In fact, we could have heard their message from Mars.”

Perhaps buckling slightly to the pressure, Rasmussen did include an “other candidate” category in Thursday’s poll, the first time he’s done so for the Florida Senate race since at least April. In this poll, the “other candidate” received three percent of the vote, which is slightly lower than Snitker’s numbers in a PPP poll released Tuesday.

In an interview with Russ Morley on 850 AM in Miami last week, Rasmussen was asked why he hasn’t included Snitker in his polls. Rasmussen responded that, “The Libertarian candidate right now [sic] not doing very well. We will be listing, uh…you know…giving people the option to say they’re voting for some other candidate.” However, Rasmussen failed to commit to including Snitker by name in future polls.

Claims of Rasmussen’s GOP bias are nothing new, but they usually are voiced by liberal Sunday show pundits or the opinion pages of left-of-center print behemoths. This may be the first time that a conservative has pointed it out.

Snitker also points out a bit of irony in what he believes Rasmussen’s reasons are for keeping him out of the polls. He cites the results of the PPP poll, as well as his internal campaign polling, which shows that he is actually pulling more votes from Crist and the democrats than he is from Rubio. “That shows that Constitutionally limited government and individual liberty are not left-right concepts. They are American concepts,” said Snitker.

A phenomenon being called the “Snitker Paradox” in the blogosphere theorizes that pollsters hold the power to determine the perceived viability of third party candidates. If the pollsters don’t include their names in the poll, they have no opportunity to enter the debates, which usually have an entrance fee of 5-15% in a major poll. If the candidates are excluded from the debates, they are unable to increase their standing in the polls due to their usually limited advertising budgets.

Thus the Republican/Democrat duopoly remains unbroken. Which, at least according to Snitker, is the way Scott Rasmussen likes it.

In a poll released Tuesday by Public Policy Polling (PPP), Snitker, the Libertarian nominee, grabbed 4% of the vote in a four-way race between him, Charlie Crist, Marco Rubio, and Kendrick Meek. Even more surprising is that he enjoyed 8% support among coveted independent voters.

Snitker, whose political contributions are estimated in the tens of thousands of dollars, is up against political heavyweights Crist, Rubio and Meek, who all have at least seven figures in their bank accounts. Throw in self-financed billionaire Jeff Greene, and it’s easy to count Snitker out on the balance sheets.

But what the working-class Libertarian lacks in funding, he makes up for in passionate, grassroots support. “We’ve got a core campaign staff of about 20 people, all unpaid, another 250 or so boots on the ground volunteers, and thousands of supporters and social media fans,” said Kelly Lobean, Snitker’s campaign manager. “And from what we’ve seen, our supporters are far more motivated than those of Crist, Rubio or the Democrats – and our ranks are growing everyday.”

Though Snitker’s 4% showing in the first poll to include him could be easily dismissed as inconsequential, it does come as a bit of a surprise considering he has not run one TV, radio or print advertisement. Plus, his big name rivals enjoy roughly a 200-to-1 advantage in state and national media coverage.

Snitker claims that his Constitutional approach to government, and his strong defense of individual liberty, will draw voters from both the left, right and center. He says that his conservative positions on reducing the size and power of the federal government, along with his non-interventionist foreign policy and defense of personal freedoms, make him the real “big tent” candidate.

The latest poll may bear him out. Though Snitker is a darling of the tea party movement, he also enjoys a 27% favorable rating among Obama voters, compared to Rubio’s 7% favorable rating with the same group.

Campaign media director, Adrian Wyllie points out that Rubio supporters are starting to migrate to Snitker because of Rubio’s weak stance on states rights issues and illegal immigration. He also says that since the Democrats have turned hawkish on Iraq, Afghanistan and possibly even Iran, Snitker is the only one who will return to “our Founders’ vision of free trade with all, and entangling alliances with none,” said Wyllie.

Ever the optimist, Snitker says that he’s the only candidate in this race that can beat Crist. “Many Crist supporters are behind him for no other reason than he’s not a Republican or Democrat. He’s a political weather vane that changes direction with the political winds. He’s the default option, but not someone who inspires excitement or confidence,” said Snitker. “I truly believe that I give Floridians something to vote for, and that is Constitutionally-limited government and individual liberty.”

Snitker suggests that there are many people across the political spectrum that believe in limited government and sound fiscal policy, but they no longer trust the Republicans or Democrats to deliver. He says that Rubio is a good example of a politician that says the right things during campaigns season, but there is an underlying distrust, even among his base.

“Alex is the real deal,” said John Conrad, the campaign events director. “He’s the antithesis of the career politician. What you see is what you get with him – there’s no window dressing and no political doublespeak.” Snitker, a former U.S. Marine, has never run for political office.

Snitker’s supporters also say that his “regular guy” persona is a big asset. Even though he attends as many as a dozen campaign stops across the state per week, sprinkled with TV and radio interviews, he still manages to hold down a regular job as a office equipment salesman.

“I’m putting everything on the line for this campaign, and I’m doing it because because I want my son to grow up in a free and prosperous America,” said Snitker.

What started out as a whisper campaign has seemingly grown into a low, grassroots murmur. And with a bit of funding, the Snitker campaign could become a loud, anti-establishment roar in November.

When: Tuesday, July 20 – From: 7-9pm
Where: Quality Inn – 6525 U.S. Hwy 27 N., Sebring, FL 33870