Ladies and gentlemen, we have our Macaca Moment of the Florida governor's race as Rick Scott says a school's "color" impacts its success

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Chatting up the locals at a Clearwater diner this morning – only about 12 people showed up – gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott got into a discussion with a teacher about education and the problems schools face today. John Frank with the St. Pete Times caught this exchange on tape, so we’ll let him explain:

Sean O’Flannery lamented Tallahassee’s control of schools and his support of the Senate Bill 6 effort designed to overhaul teacher tenure.

Scott agreed O’Flannery, saying he doesn’t statewide measures like the FCAT are adequate. Asked for his education plan, Scott told the teacher he would release one soon but cautioned what is going to work in Clearwater won’t work elsewhere.

“And also a school’s color,” Scott said. “If you have 70 percent African-American you’re not going to have the same issues.”

The teacher agreed.

Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises and is the publisher of some of Florida’s most influential new media websites, including SaintPetersBlog.com, FloridaPolitics.com, ContextFlorida.com, and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. SaintPetersBlog has for three years running been ranked by the Washington Post as the best state-based blog in Florida. In addition to his publishing efforts, Peter is a political consultant to several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella.