I agree with all of your post except the bolded part. I’m sick of the Legislature passing bills with a promise to fix it later. Term limits have proven that they have a negative incentive to ever fix it. It just goes on and on and on. Florida is fucked until we undo term limits.
Case in point is that Florida’s current budget crisis was caused, in large measure, by…wait for it…RUBIO! But does anybody remember that now? Nope.
4 across: An extinct species of humans, or subspecies of Homo sapiens, inhabiting Europe in prehistoric times.
Nerfball.
The real reason that the GOP prefers Rubio to Crist is not idealogy. If Crist had enough support to win the primary and the general election he would be just as a reliable vote for the leadership as Rubio will be. The difference is ethnicity. Rubio is a good looking, articulate Latino. Previous Latino politicians have been pretty uninspiring, but Rubio has a charisma that few politicians have. If he becomes a senator he will be a national figure and the face of the GOP toward Hispanics. Then in 2012 or 2016 he goes on the presidential ticket and it makes it harder to paint the GOP as rascist. Like most politicians Crist is an egomaniac and an opportunist. This empty senate seat is his best shot at a cushy job with lots of power so he will do whatever it takes to have it. The problem is his biggest advantage is name recognition and after Rubio spends a couple score millions of dollars that advantage will be gone. The guy from the Democrat party is being overshadowed and having Crist siphon away the support of the teacher union can only hurt him.
Perhaps. The teachers’ unions certainly seem grateful - they’re running a series of statewide “thank you” ads which don’t mention the election at all and simply applaud Crist for the veto.
That could make things very interesting, though; if Crist’s funding base really does dry up as sharply as the GOP says it will, he’ll have to move to the left, and maybe even end up caucusing with the Democrats if he wins.
Other than teachers unions, who have already got what they wanted out of Crist, why would a liberal give to him over Meeks? With Lieberman potential donors knew what they were going to get. Crist could move left, but Meeks is already there and donors will be afraid of Crist moving back to the right if the wind starts to blow that way. Potential donors to Crist seem to be limited to those who think Crist is indispensable to the country or state of Florida. My guess is there are fewer of those than Crist believes.
To keep Rubio out i would vote for Crist. Very liberal latino Floridian here.
What he said. Florida voters are pragmatic, and we’ve* never fallen for the trap of letting excellence stand in the way of the good.
Anyway, most of us don’t know Kendrick Meeks from a hole in the ground. Crist may be unpredictable, but he’s predictable in his moderation.
*I’m not a citizen so I can’t vote.
One of the things that worries me about Meek is that he hasn’t faced any competitive elections in any of his House races. His mother held the seat until 2002, and then the 2002 race that he won, as well as every subsequent election, he’s run unopposed. It makes me wonder if his campaign skills are up to snuff.
I wonder if there will be a three-way televised debate? Meek will demand one, because of his name-recognition problem, and Crist and Rubio will try to duck it for the same reason.
Oh my supporting gun rights, and the death penalty and opposing gay marriage (which many liberal politicians also support) and being a moderate on the abortion issue makes you socially reactionary, eh? :dubious:
I like both Crist and Rubio. My main problem with Crist is his pro-abortion stance although he’s willing to appoint pro-life judges.
I’d have no problem voting for a Nerfball OR a Narwhal…
Yep. The world moves on. By the time YOU can vote, homophobes will be looked at like we look at Bull Conner and Orval Faubus. (You might want to look those people up. Don’t know how accurately they’re teaching the Civil Rights era in that wingnut religious school of yours.)
I don’t think that’s true. Acceptance of gay marriage in increasing, and I think, assuming existing trends continue, that it eventually will be widely accepted in the US, but I think that it’ll take more than a few years.
In what sense are you a moderate on the abortion issue?
He was saying the Crist was a moderate on the abortion issue.
If he was–I agree that’s what he meant to say–putting a comma after “Oh my” would have really wrapped it up nicely. And much quicker than usual.
I go to a public school.
This.
My apologies. I thought you’d mentioned going to a private Christian school before. A trip back through the search function proved me wrong.