Tag: Charlie Crist

Florida’s Newest Democrat: Mrs. Charlie Crist

Trish
CaroleCrist
Carole Crist: Too smart to be a Republican?

While the obvious question might be, “What took you so long?” the fact remains that even Carole Rome Crist, wife of former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, is now a Democrat.

Crist himself, of course, left the Republican party when it went all tea party crazy and lined up behind eventual winner Marco Rubio in the 2010 Florida Senate race. But Charlie simply dropped out of the GOP to become an independent while Mrs. Crist is taking the more active step of registering as a Democrat.

Which straw, we wonder, broke the camel’s back and turned Carole from red to blue?

Charlie Gone Wild

Trish

morrisonThe newly independent Gov. Charlie Crist (NPA – Fla.) is going rogue during his last weeks in office, starting with a possible posthumous pardon of the Doors’ lead singer, Jim Morrison.

“Stay tuned,” Crist told The Hill this week. “It’s something I’m willing to look into in the time I have left.”

Morrison, for those of you too young to be reading this post, was arrested in Miami on charges of exposing himself during a concert in 1969. It was a time of assassinations, shootings of college kids by National Guardsmen, inner-city riots, and pop stars dropping like flies from drug overdoses, so Morrison’s arrest was just one more crazy thing. In fact, it wasn’t even his first (or last) arrest.

Morrison arrived at the oversold gig looking the worse for wear, fired up from a day of drinking and a provocative play he had seen in Los Angeles the night before. He antagonised the crowd, and recordings certainly show he used some naughty words. He did take off his shirt, though, and he did ask if the audience wanted to “see his cock”, but it’s unclear if he did actually, er, show the audience his morrison. He spurred a stage invasion and got into a fight with the promoter. But the subsequent six-week trial was filled with contradictory testimonies and debates over “free speech”.

Morrison was ultimately cleared on charges of lascivious behaviour and, bizarrely, drunkenness, but he was convicted of profanity and indecent exposure. Sentenced to six months in prison and a $500 fine, he died on bail in Paris, pending appeal.

Charlie has previously expressed interest in clearing Morrison’s, and Florida’s, names by taking it all back after the fact. One wonders, though, what else is on Crist’s To Do list in his remaining days as governor. Can we revisit that whole Bush v. Gore thing, do you think?

Verbatim

Trish

It doesn’t bother him that maintaining tax cuts for the top 2 percent of income earners would increase the deficit by $700 billion. In his world, deficit spending is bad if it saves middle class jobs but good if it covers tax cuts for the wealthy.

— St. Petersburg Times editorial titled, “Rubio’s Rigid Ideology,” which ends, “Rubio embraces an inflexible ideology, not practical solutions. The Republican leaves no room for compromise or consensus — and that is what is wrong with Washington.”

Somebody Needs to Drop Out

Trish
RubioCPAC
Marco Rubio, addressing the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) this spring. Like all tea baggers, Rubio denounced Pres. Obama's use of teleprompters in his speech.

It’s time for Kendrick Meek to drop out of the U.S. Senate race in Florida.

A new Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times poll shows Marco Rubio now leading, with 41 percent. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has the support of 26 percent of those queried, while Meek has 20 percent.

Meek can look forward to a lifetime of having earned the nickname “Kendrick Nader”

Why should Meek be the one to drop out? Two reasons. First, his numbers have been no better than they are right now from the beginning. Meek has consistently failed to sway large numbers of voters and there is no reason to expect that to change in the next nine days.

Second, were Crist to back out, Meek would stand virtually no chance of pulling Republican support. Crist backers who are registered “R” will vote “R.” On the other hand, many Democrats are willing to vote for the no party affiliated Crist if it means denying Rubio a victory.

The poll had a margin of error of 4.1 percent, so if Rubio stayed at 41 percent and Crist picked up Meek’s supporters (which he would very likely do), he would garner 46 percent.

Sadly, since early voting has already started, it might be too late even if Meek does decide to do the right thing and step away. Florida appears to be headed toward having a Sen. Rubio in its future. It’s a grim prospect, and Meek can look forward to a lifetime of having earned the nickname “Kendrick Nader” if he makes it happen.

Voters Have to Hunt for Charlie Crist’s Name on Florida Ballots

Trish
Ballot
In the words of John Lennon: Number Nine. Number Nine. Number Nine...

With polls showing Florida Gov. Charlie Crist at about 30 percent in his race for U.S. Senate against Tea Party Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek, the newly independent candidate is already swimming upstream.

I just got my sample ballot, and not only is Crist not listed third, he’s at number nine, ahead only of one other guy and the space to write someone in.

Blame it, along with many of his other campaign woes, on Charlie’s decision to go no party affiliation (NPA) rather than face Rubio in a Republican primary.

Here’s how ballot order works in Florida.

Florida Statutes, 101.151(2)(b):

The last time ten names were listed for one office on a Florida ballot was in 2000. And you know how that turned out.

“The names of the candidates of the party that received the highest number of votes for Governor in the last election in which a Governor was elected shall be placed first under the heading for each office on the general election ballot, together with an appropriate abbreviation of party name; the names of the candidates of the party that received the second highest vote for Governor shall be second under the heading for each office, together with an appropriate abbreviation of the party name.”

So that explains why Rubio jumped to first and Meek is second, but why is Charlie second from last?

[…]

FL Sen: Crist Gets an Endorsement That Would Be the Kiss of Death to a California Candidate

Jon Ponder

The last thing candidates of either party running for high offices in California would want these days is the endorsement of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In fact, among the four candidates for governor and senator, the one who would want his endorsement the least is Meg Whitman, the candidate running for his job in his own party.

“When it comes to inflicting ‘Collateral Damage’ on the economy, Charlie Crist and Arnold Schwarzenegger are definitely ‘Twins.’ Charlie’s flip-flops have made him a master at telling ‘True Lies.’”
– Rubio campaign

The political stank around Schwarzenegger apparently has not drifted 3,000 miles southeast to Florida, however:

Gov. Charlie Crist lost endorsements from prominent Republicans when he bolted the party for an independent Senate run, but one is sticking by him: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger made his announcement over Twitter on Tuesday. He summed up his thoughts on Crist in 136 characters: “I endorse Gov (at)charliecristfl for Senate. Great leader, works with both parties, and our country needs someone like him in DC right now.”

The campaign of Crist’s GOP tea bagger opponent, Marco Rubio — which is apparently run by third-graders — shot back by cleverly incorporating titles from Schwarzenegger’s film oeuvre into their news alert:

“When it comes to inflicting ‘Collateral Damage’ on the economy, Charlie Crist and Arnold Schwarzenegger are definitely ‘Twins.’ Charlie’s flip-flops have made him a master at telling ‘True Lies.'”

If that was so funny you forgot to laugh, it’s probably because you don’t have “Total Recall.”

But seriously Rubio campaign, poking fun of Arnold using titles of his films is ssoooo 2003.

Trish and Buck unwittingly contributed to this article.

Will Florida’s Three-Way Senate Race Revert to a Two-Way?

Trish
Florida3
From left, the very tall Meek, the shorter Crist, and the really short Rubio

Rumors are flying in Florida after this week’s debate among the three candidates for the U.S. Senate. One scenario, put forth by the Wall St. Journal, says Democrats might be pressuring U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) to drop out of the race, leaving only Gov. Charlie Crist and former state House Speaker Marco Rubio to duke it out.

Should Meek give his concession speech now, or wait until after the election?

With Meek’s poll numbers showing no bump after the debate, and with groups like the Florida Sierra Club offering dual endorsements of both him and Crist, Meek really has two choices: quit and lose now, or stay in and lose later.

The candidate himself, though, seems still in fighting mode. After the Sierra Club’s odd move, Meek upped the oddness quotient by refusing the endorsement. He also made it clear he’s tired of people forgetting that Charlie Crist is neither a Democrat nor a true environmentalist.

[…]

New Crist Endorsement Flummoxes Florida Democrats

Trish

An endorsement from the “Fire Breathing Liberal” himself has upped the hang-wringing quotient among Florida Democrats who buy into the false premise that they must defeat Gov. Charlie Crist in the U.S. Senate race.

Former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler (D-South Florida) came out in support of Crist over the weekend.

“There is a special time in which elected officials have to put country before party, and this is one of those times,” the seven-term congressman told a crowd of his former constituents at Century Village west of Boca Raton. “I am here to endorse Gov. Charlie Crist because he has earned it. He has truly earned it.”

Almost every traditional shorthand measure for this election fails us

How Crist “earned it” is anyone’s guess, although he has shown signs of being a vertebrate with election-year vetoes of egregious legislation passed by Florida’s Republican-majority lawmakers. Still, Democrats expected Wexler to endorse U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, whose tagline since Crist went no party affiliation (NPA) is that he is a “lifelong Democrat.”

The often overlooked detail in the three-way race between the newly NPA Crist, the Democrat Meek, and the Tea Party Republican Marco Rubio is that all that has to happen for Rubio not to be the next U.S. Senator from Florida is for him to capture less than 33 percent of the vote. So Democrats can vote for Crist or Meek, just so long as they don’t vote for Rubio.

[…]