Gov. Rick Scott Softens His Approach to Politics Gov. Rick Scott of Florida at a service recognition ceremony for state employees last summer. A former health care corporate executive, he is trying to learn how to connect with voters better. MIAMI - As the Republican presidential candidates darted from city to city in Florida last week stitching up votes for Tuesday's primary, Gov. Rick Scott stayed largely ensconced in the State Capitol, far from the fray, filling his days with business meetings, receptions and talk of his legislative agenda. Unlike Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina, who spent three days campaigning for Mitt Romney in her state before its recent primary, Mr. Scott has not endorsed a candidate and has scarcely acknowledged the feverish pitch that is now enveloping the race. He is doing this for practical reasons, political analysts say: Mr. Scott, 59, remains an enigmatic, polarizing figure in Florida, and his approval ratings float around the 30 percent mark, hardly a boon on the stump for any of the four candidates. But for Mr. Scott, a bedrock conservative and workaholic who approaches the job of governor as the corporate chief he once was, it is also a reflection of his aversion to the fine points and foolishness of politics, something he has set out to overcome in his second year in office. Despite his legislative successes last year, a transformation was in order, analysts, lawmakers and lobbyists say. In an effort to better connect with voters and change his public image, the governor shook up his inner circle last summer, bringing in a respected political veteran as chief of staff. Shortly after, Mr. Scott, who had routinely shunned reporters, made a point of talking with them more informally and sitting down with newspaper editorial boards for the first time. The multimillionaire governor was also seen traipsing around the state on "let's get to work days," selling doughnuts at a shop, among other things. Batting back charges that he was not tuning in to voters, he went on a listening tour. An open-collar shirt replaced a suit and tie. And lawmakers received invitations to the Governor's Mansion for dinners and barbecues. "Governors can't get isolated in Tallahassee," said John Thrasher, a former chairman of the Republican Party in Florida and now a state senator from Jacksonville. They have to get out and meet people and understand what's on their minds, and I think he is doing that. It is a far cry from Mr. Scott's first six months in office, when "he was almost in a kind of lockdown situation," said Van B. Poole, another former chairman of the Republican Party in Florida who is now a lobbyist. They had him so insulated in the beginning you couldn't get to him. An outsider when he was elected with Tea Party support after a knock-down, razor-close race in 2010, Mr. Scott, a former health care executive with the air of a technocrat, has managed to stay an outsider. "He is not a politician," said Tony Fabrizio, a longtime pollster and strategist who helped get Mr. Scott elected and who continues to advise him. These people who are critics of him, they are critics because they are expecting him to behave like a trained politician. He is on a learning curve on how politics itself works. Could things have been done different or better? Sure," Mr. Fabrizio said. But they got a ton of stuff done. The relationship between Mr. Scott and Republican leaders in the Legislature got off to a frosty start, mostly because they had all worked hard to defeat him in the 2010 primary and he did not kowtow upon his arrival. Yet he walked away from the last legislative session with much of what he wanted - in large part because the Legislature is overwhelmingly Republican and conservative and shares much of his agenda. The budget shortfall shrank to $2 billion this year from $3.5 billion last year, mostly from cutting a big chunk of the education budget. Teacher tenure was ended and merit pay instituted, something the Legislature had pushed for and teachers had fought. State workers were required to contribute 3 percent of their salaries for their pensions, a move that riled unions. The state work force was trimmed by 3.5 percent. The governor also rejected $2.4 billion in federal stimulus money for a high-speed rail line between Orlando and Tampa, arguing that the project could have ended up saddling Florida taxpayers with $3 billion in cost overruns for its construction. Christine Sexton contributed reporting from Tallahassee, Fla.