What is the deal with all the Reps jumping ship on Charlie Crist?? Is this because the tea baggers decided to back Marco Rubio (who I find repulsive) and therefore they must back him as well? Any inside info on this??
- from a FL voter
I thought that was for the Florida Senate seat, not the governor’s race?
His polls in relation to Rubio are slipping, so the people endorsing Rubio want to be on the winning side, and Crist just vetoed an education bill that’s popular among Florida Republicans, and was one of the Florida Legislature’s major priorities.
Yes it’s the Senate seat. Mainly a function of polling. If I were a Florida Republican official, both campaigns have probably been harrasing me for months for an endorsement. Even if I personally supported Rubio, six months ago I would have told both sides that I want stay out of this one. Mainly because Crist has access to the establishment and the money that goes along with being an establishment boy. Now with Crist’s numbers looking bad, it’s a he’ll of a lot safer for me to come out of the closet to support Rubio. Plus if you want to have a future in politics, You probably want to be on Rubio’s good side. He is morelikly to be the one you will turn to for help rather than Crist.
Given that this deals with politics, it’s better suited for GD than GQ.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Right. I changed the title from “Dope on FL gov’s election.”
Because it looks like Crist is going to get crushed in the primary. It’s looked bad for him for a long time and his supporters are bowing to the inevitable. Nobody thinks he can beat Rubio in the primary. The question has now become whether or not he will run as an independent. Polls show he might be able to win in a three-way race. But the Republicans aren’t going to want that because it could throw the race to the Democrat, Meeks, or result in Crist winning but not owing them anything.
Crist is still pretty popular in the state, but his popularity in his own party over the last few months has dropped like a rock, partly due to his supporting the stimulus package, partly due to the more general backlash by Republicans against their more “moderate” figures (though Crist isn’t really that moderate) and partly because its just a bad time to be an incumbent governor. Its now pretty inconceivable that he’ll win the GOP nomination, his choices are basically give up or run as an independent.
He’s certainly not hiding the fact that he’s considering the second route. He has till April 30th to decide, Since he obviously wants to continue in politics, I suspect his final decision will basically depend on whether he thinks he’s still popular enough in FL to win without the support of a major party.
Crist is seen as the establishment candidate and Rubio is not perceived that way. When the Politico ran the story about the NRSC endorsing Crist (a move that has been reported to rarely happen during a close primary), I believe the image of Rubio being the underdog was sealed. The climate right now is against establishment politicians. And Crist’s popularity has waned a bit since he was one of the first Republicans to suppose the Stimulus bill.
This was a big one. Crist supposedly supported this bill at all of the stages. If he had problems with it, he could have worked with the legislature to address some of his concerns and saved a hell of a lot of time.
His problem is one of image. He seems to be the type of guy who takes positions on whether or not it benefits him politically. He was a good conservative after Jeb Bush left as a popular governor. When Obama won the state, he supported the stimulus package, and then when he got leaned on by the teachers unions, he vetoed a forward thinking education bill. Signing a primary enforcement seat belt law also did little to improve his “small government” credentials.
It is still pretty stunning for a sitting governor to be 30 points behind in the primary and that is because of all of the bridges that Crist has burned. I think running as an independent just increases the likelihood of a Dem picking up this seat.
No, he isn’t. He’s not unpopular, either. He’s just there, and nobody loves him or hates him, or even thinks or talks about him very much. He has not been a very high-profile governor.
The GOP primary was already a lost cause for Crist by the time he vetoed the teachers bill, so I don’t think it can really be blamed for his loss of popularity amongst conservatives (the reverse case might be true though, I seriously doubt he would’ve vetoed the bill if he still thought he had a snowballs chance in Flordia that he could get the GOP nomination for the Senate race).
I’ve lived here for most of his term, and I think he’s been relatively high profile. He stabbed Gulliani in the back during the GOP presidential primary, was the most prominent GOP booster of the Stimulus plan, was outted as gay and then got married, backed a series of (stupid, IMHO) cuts in property taxes and until recently had high approval ratings. All were relatively big news stories. YMMV, of course.
Nobody has noticed that Rubio is crazy. When they do, we’ll see what happens - although it will be too late for Crist by then.
I seriously doubt that going to be a negative for his supporters, they freaking love the crazy.
Rumor is Charlie is considering jumping ship and running as an Independent. Fine by me; he’s a bit too close to the center to be involved with the current incarnation of the Republican Party. Crist seems to not be all that concerned about pissing off the G.O.P. for the good of the state, either.
Now if he’s just come out of the closet.
Great, the GOP could use its own Lieberman.
Fine by me.
Rubio must have tons of money behind him now because I’m seeing a commercial for him during every commercial break and I’m already pretty sick of him. I am also sick of the “we need someone to stand of to Obama” schtick. Where the hell were all these guys willing to stand up to the sitting president from 2001 to 2009?
“Great Debates” aren’t started with referring to politically active groups by using vulgar sexual slang.
If the teabaggers wish to start a great debate, they are free to do so. I doubt it would skyrocket to stratospheric heights of rhetorical excellence, though.
Crist says he may run as an independent.
A three-way Senate race! That should make this an interesting political year in Florida! (Hard to see how anything else will . . .)