“Things have obviously improved, but nobody would argue that we’ve returned to anything close to normal,” he said. “How much of [the improvement] the governor can take responsibility for? I don’t know.”

With 29 electoral votes, Florida is considered a must-win state for Romney — and, his advisors say, he’s not likely to change his message.

“Our message is simple: The economy is doing better because of Gov. Scott, but it’s not where it should be because of President Obama,” said Alberto Martinez, a senior advisor to the Romney campaign in Florida. “The challenges Florida faces are rooted in Washington.”

Scott’s popularity ratings make him unlikely to be tapped to help by the GOP’s presumptive nominee, but the governor’s clearly not backing down his rosy outlook, either.

“My job is to continue to talk about what we’re doing in Florida and the fact that we’re headed in the right direction,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

He added that he could do better with a federal partner.

“We are doing the right things here,” Scott said. “Look, we’re reducing taxes. We’re reducing regulation. Our agencies are trying to work with businesses to get more jobs here. Now we need the federal government to do its part.”

Can the two views under one tent hurt Romney?

Brad Coker, a pollster with Mason-Dixon Research, believes it already is.

“Rick Scott is out there promoting Rick Scott. That not only is undercutting Mitt Romney, it may be hurting Connie Mack,’’ he said, referring to the Republican front-runner in the U.S. Senate race.

“I know the governor’s ratings have been low and he’s trying to do things to improve them,’’ he said. “But he’s not up for reelection until 2014, and there’s no reason in the world why he can’t wait until the day after the election to start running that stuff.”

Romney’s campaign and state Republican officials both say they have a good relationship with the governor and have no intention of telling him to modify his message.

“He’s trying to tout the positive, and it’s his call,” said Jeff Bechdel, spokesman for the Republican Party of Florida. “We’re certainly not telling him what he should say.”

Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown, whose latest survey found that 52 percent of Florida voters disapprove of the job Scott is doing, said that with the onslaught of television ads, most people aren’t paying attention to the governor’s message on the economy. A review by National Journal found an eye-popping $58 million spent on presidential TV spending in Florida since May 1.

“Scott’s pretty much not part of the discussion — not through any part of his own,” Brown said. “This is a presidential campaign, and he’s not running for president.” He added, however, that like other governors in swing states, the governor could just let the economic data speak for itself and stay out of the debate.

“You don’t need to tell people things are better if they’re better,” Brown said. He noted that Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s job-approval numbers used to be as bad as Scott’s, but the economy has improved in that state and his numbers have followed.

“The story isn’t about the governor — even in his own state,” Brown said. “The story is about the president.”

Jack from Bradenton seems to agree. In an email written to Scott recently and posted on the governor’s Sunburst email site, he urged the governor to “stop saying you have made things better here in Florida. You are making it hard for Romney,” he wrote. “… So just keep your mouth shut.”