Exclusive: Connie Mack Announces Florida Senate Bid on 'Hannity'

Connie Mack: I'm Going to Run for U.S. Senate

Exclusive: Rep. Connie Mack on presidential race, his plans for the future

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," November 28, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: It's no surprise that much of the focus on the upcoming election season will be on who's going to challenge President Barack Obama next November. However, 2012 could also mark the year the Republicans can take back control of the U.S. Senate.

And among the 33 seats that are up for grabs is the one currently held by Democrat Bill Nelson in Florida. Joining me now from the Sunshine State with a major announcement regarding this race is Florida Congressman Connie Mack, Southwest Florida. Mr. Mack, sir, Mr. Penny Plan, how are you?

REP. CONNIE MACK, R-FLA.: I'm doing great, Sean. How are you?

HANNITY: I am good. Now, originally, you said, you were not going to get into the Senate race?

MACK: That's right. Well, you know, I'm here tonight, Sean, with you and to tell you that I am going to run for the United States Senate because frankly, I think the people of Florida have had enough.

They've had enough of every time they turn around, Senator Nelson is supporting and helping Barack Obama with Barack Obama's agenda of more government, whether it's helping him with Obamacare --you know, Senator Nelson was there right by Obama's side. Whether it was the stimulus, again, Senator Nelson was right by Obama's side to make sure that was passed. Whether it was trillions of dollars in more spending, more tax increases, you name it, on down the line. Senator Nelson has been one of Barack Obama's go to guys in the Senate. And the people of the state of Florida have had enough. They want -- they don't want us to continue down the direction towards Greece. They want to see us go towards on the road of prosperity. And Senator Nelson doesn't understand that the people of the state of Florida want someone in the Senate that believes in them. You know, not someone who believes in more government.

HANNITY: Well, correct me if I'm wrong. He voted for Obamacare. He voted for the Obama budgets. He voted against banning earmarks and he's been a huge recipient of earmarks. And maybe there's another way to look at this because the people of Florida overwhelmingly elected Marco Rubio in the last election. And he basically canceling out Marco Rubio's vote every time he goes out there, right?

MACK: That's right and you know, again, I think that Senator Nelson doesn't realize that the state of Florida, the people of the state of Florida, they don't want what they're being served out of Washington. They want a limited government. They want someone up there who believes in them, who believes in that small business owner that is looking to expand their business and create jobs, not looking towards government and more regulation and a bigger bureaucracy. You got business starving down here because we have more government -- more government programs coming out of Washington, D.C.

It's about time we say to the people of state of Florida -- and I hope that Senator Nelson will do this -- say to the people of the state of Florida, we trust you. We're here with you. We don't want a pass more government regulations that's going to eventually shut you down. We want to stand by your side. And right now, they're not hearing that from Senator Nelson.

HANNITY: Florida is going to be a key state. Now there are two polls that have come out already, head to head, you not even announcing until tonight that you're in the race. And these two polls have you up by three or four points respectively.

You're not even in the race, and he is now below 40 percent in the recent poll. He also said -- look, unemployment in Florida, the housing market in Florida, I have a lot of friends, I go down there a lot. Florida has been hit as hard as just about any state in the country. Why is Florida hit so hard by all that has happened? I know somebody that owned a house in Orlando, paid $350,000 for the house. It's worth $150,000 today on the market.

MACK: Well, you know, Florida as you know, Florida is a beautiful place and people from all around the country like to come to Florida whether it's during the winter time to get out of, you know, if they're up north, or in the summer time and enjoy beaches.

And what we've seen out of the policies that have come out of Washington -- you know, Barack Obama believes that the way to solve all our problems is more government. So when he tries the stimulus and Senator Nelson is right there with him to help him pass the stimulus bill, and that doesn't work, they don't realize that that's the wrong way to go, instead we ought to look at how do we create incentives for small businesses to work, you know, to work hard and create jobs. But instead they tried to double down on another stimulus plan.

So it's just more of the same and all we're getting out of Barack Obama and Bill Nelson is more government regulation, more taxes and the American people and the people in the state of Florida said, I've had it, enough is enough. We want to go in a different direction.

HANNITY: Well, the other thing is he's voted with the Democrats in Congress nearly 95 percent of the time. I was looking up his record. He praised Obama during the last election. Now he doesn't want to be seen with Obama, which is pretty interesting.

And I think the thing that has resonated nationally and I know that Senator Rubio supports you on this is your "Penny Plan." You want -- you want the government to keep spending at current levels and cut one penny a year out of every dollar spent and you do it for six years. And we're at a balance budget, right?

MACK: That's right. So it's a simple plan, Sean, as you know. We take one penny out of every dollar of the federal budget for six years. After -- in the seventh year, we cap spending at 18 percent of GDP. In the eighth year, we balance the budget and after 10 years, we end up cutting $7.5 trillion. Everybody watching your show tonight has had to take more than one penny out of every dollar of their home budget or one penny out of every dollar of their business budget. And the federal government should be required to do the same thing so we can balance our budget and start the process of a stronger, more vibrant economy.

HANNITY: It's going to be a great race. Florida is I sense moving red in the next election. Connie Mack, good to see you and welcome to the race for Senate. We'll be down there watching closely. Thanks for being with us.

MACK: Thank you, Sean.

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