Mr. Outsider makes an entrance

The Republican Party's headquarters in Hillsborough County is on a side street in Brandon, not too far from the sprawling mall and lesser malls that dominate the western end of Florida's largest bedroom community.

I suppose if you want to be smack in the middle of Middle America, you couldn't get any more suburban sprawl than this place.

The headquarters is upstairs in a modest building that also houses a small restaurant and a gym. By four o'clock Thursday afternoon the place was draped in bunting and surrounded by "Rick Scott for Governor'' signs stuck into every available plot of grass.

Inside the headquarters several dozen volunteers worked to make sure the place looked busy and that every phone bank phone was manned and that there were plenty of signs and banners to wave at the right time.

Rick Scott, the outsider, was coming to town and bringing his choice for lieutenant governor with him.

I was there mostly to see if Scott was as creepy in person as he appears on television and to see if the Republican insiders would be paying more than lip service to Mr. Outsider.

Good ol' Bill whatshisname

Someone had managed to get rid of all indications that Bill McCollum once had been their man - the insiders' man. I wonder what happened to all those bumper stickers and campaign signs.

There was a stack of Marco Rubio signs in a back room, but they were for - I imagine - when he comes to town. He used to be an outsider as well, but that was before Charlie Crist jumped ship. Now McCollum had become a nonperson. Losers don't last long in politics, especially when they don't throw in with the winners.

There were a handful of elected Republicans in the crowd, including Sen. Ronda Storms and Reps. Rich Glorioso and Rachel Burgin. They all seemed happy to be near the new guy.

The entourage arrived about an hour late, led by advance flacks in suits in the brutal 90-plus heat.

Scott and his pick, Jennifer Carroll, followed. I never had met Scott and the truth is, up close, he is more personable than that deer-in-the-headlights guy from the primary. I don't know if it's something he has been working on, but he was careful to stop and look at each person as he shook hands with them. He was deliberate and patient when dealing with the media, although he fielded only a handful of softball questions.

Working the crowd

Carroll, who has seven years in the state House, is even more relaxed. The 20-year Navy veteran obviously knows how to work a crowd. She says the right things and nobody at the event mentions that not too long ago she was a McCollum supporter.

There was a brief news conference and everyone piled downstairs to the restaurant that was too small for the 100 or so people who attempted to do the meet-and-greet. A few minutes later, Scott, Carroll and their entourage climbed into SUVS and were off to another stop somewhere in Florida.

Mr. Outsider had come in and seemed to fit right in with regulars, who left carrying lawn signs and t-shirts.

It's a long way - a really long way - from this gathering of the hardcore faithful to beating the formidable Alex Sink two months from now. But Rick Scott no longer appears to be Mr. Outsider.