I don’t closely read The Daily Kos, and so I don’t know if Kos is toying with conservatives, here. But Markos Moulitsas says that, as a Democrat, Charlie Crist would be a “marginally good Democrat.”
It took collapsing poll numbers for Specter to hit the “panic!” button and switch parties. That’s probably what it’ll take for Crist to realize his problems, and when he does, he’ll have a tough call to make: go down with his party, or pull a Specter and ditch it for better electoral prospects on a different line. That could mean a switch to the Democratic Party where he’d likely be no worse than the other senator from Florida, Bill Nelson — a marginally good Democrat, a step up from Landrieu, Nebraska’s Nelson, and the Wal Mart Twins (and no better). Or it could mean an independent run, where he might be able to pull a Lieberman (complete with a Joementum fundraising campaign visit) and work to attract independents, mainstream Republicans, and Democrats disaffected by their poor field and try to win a split three-way field.
In terms of the threat of Rubio, Kos writes:
But the primary is 14 months away, and grassroots conservatives are moving over to Rubio en masse. He will have enough money to compete (Club for Growth, among others, are behind him), he’s got big names like Mike Huckabee gathering behind him, and the right-wing noise machine loves him — and not just Florida wingnut radio, but national outlets like Fox News and the Wall Street Journal editorial board. And with pictures like this in their arsenal, conservatives will have all the ammo they need to bring down Crist:
And while I don’t know just how far left The St. Petersburg Times is (they did endorse Obama), I do think that Wednesday’s editorial can erase most doubt that they won’t be endorsing Crist in the Senate race:
Gov. Charlie Crist’s sellout to developers is now complete. He signed into law Tuesday a bill that neuters the governing boards of the state’s five water management districts, which grant permits for large-scale water pumping and wetlands destruction. Now that authority will rest solely in the hands of the districts’ executive directors. Developers and big industry will be able to more easily drain Florida and pave over what’s left.
Piece by piece, this governor has systematically dismantled what little protections there are for Floridians fed up with traffic and overdevelopment.
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Benjamin Hodge co-owns the Web site KansasProgress.com, based in Johnson County, KS, in the Greater Kansas City area. You can contact Hodge on Facebook, through his Web site, and on Twitter.
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:11 am
FL-Sen: Marco Rubio took my advice
by kos
May 12, 2009
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/5/12/730550/-FL-Sen:-Marco-Rubio-took-my-advice
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:15 am
Aron,
What’s wrong with taking Kos’ advice? The quality of the advice is what matters, not the source of the advice….isn’t that your claim?
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:18 am
Americans Like Obama, But They’re Doing The Math
By Charlie Cook
http://www.cookpolitical.com/node/4616
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:26 am
If Crist did change parties, it wouldn’t surprise me at all. The only reason he runs as a Republican is because it is easier to win in Florida as a Republican than as a Democrat. We swing both ways when it comes to presidential politics, but statewide, we are a deeper shade of red.
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:33 am
Nothing.
You’re learning.
The link in #1 leaves no doubt.
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:51 am
Aron,
The theory of independent discovery or source in criminal procedure law would seem to apply to Rubio and Kos adopting a similar playbook against Crist. That Rubio’s strategy involves tying Crist to Obama and painting him as a liberal Republican is not particularly surprising to any close political observer.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:36 am
Regarding the last part of the front page post, Would St. Pete Times endorse Rubio? Rubio is unlikely to be less for development than Crist.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:14 am
Crist is a proud republican and the co front-runner for 2016 or 2020 (depending on whether Mitt beats Barry or not) with Huntsman, Jindal and Thune
Trying to run him out of the party is about as crazy as it is self-defeating.
July 2nd, 2009 at 6:27 am
#7: No, the St. Petersburg Times won’t endorse Rubio — they’ll endorse the Democrat. Basically the only semi-legitimate argument that Crist can put forward for his candidacy is that, as a moderate, he would be supported by a larger number of people because he would get voters from the center-left. But, that didn’t work for John McCain (in Florida, or nation-wide), and I’m not sure it will work that way for Crist in the general election, as most on the left will just pick the Democrat.
#8: Nobody’s trying to run Crist out of the party. Rather, Crist has CHOSEN to run in the primary of the Republican party, a party that is a center-right coalition that holds conservative and libertarian principles. Through Crist’s actions and silence, he is apparently trying to run an idea-less race based upon popularity and feeling. That’s his right to do that, and it’s also the right of the coalition members to examine/criticize his record and ask him questions. Crist would prefer to walk into this seat (as any politician would, of course), but few actually get to do that, and Crist is not going to have that luxury in 2010.
You state that he is a “proud Republican” — Crist should be able to easily state why that is so, and he appears unwilling.
On taxes, holding/breaking pledges, judges, spending — there are very serious problems with Crist’s record vs. his rhetoric.
July 2nd, 2009 at 6:38 am
Of course Crist would be a “marginally good democrat”. Which is why it would be absolutely insane for Republicans to support Crist. I could understand the whole Toomey/Specter calculation pragmatists made. Toomey’s a poor fit for Penn and Specter likely only had 1-term left in him anyway. If Crist gets in there, though, he’d be a pain in the rear for 30-40 years…and for what? A 90% chance of winning the seat instead of a 60% chance? Add to that the possibility of permanently damaging a young, charismatic, Hispanic Republican, to help another good ole’boy white guy, and you have a recipe for disaster.
July 2nd, 2009 at 6:49 am
“Basically the only semi-legitimate argument that Crist can put forward for his candidacy is that, as a moderate, he would be supported by a larger number of people because he would get voters from the center-left. But, that didn’t work for John McCain (in Florida, or nation-wide), and I’m not sure it will work that way for Crist in the general election, as most on the left will just pick the Democrat.”
Noone’s saying Crist is going to take voters from the left. The argument is that he locks down the moderate swing voters.
“Nobody’s trying to run Crist out of the party.”
Crap. If tomorrow, Charlie Crist announced he was a Democrat, this place would be excited about it.
“Through Crist’s actions and silence, he is apparently trying to run an idea-less race based upon popularity and feeling.”
You realize this whole thing is a long way away, right? It’s not time for ideas. It’s time for building up your campaign infrastructure. Ideas come later. You put out your ideas against your opponents as the election get closer, so people remember what you have to say when they go to the polls. Anything he says now is irrelevant. It’s best for him to play the front runner card and sit it out for a few months.
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:16 am
I like Crist okay. I like Rubio more. Supporting Rubio does not equate to wanting to run Crist out of the party.
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:45 am
6 – Tommy Boy is correct. Kos is teasing and tweaking a *little* but ultimately he and Rubio have the same incentives in the short term.
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:00 am
Crist seems to be an ally of Obama’s.
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:11 am
The cracker on the left is afraid of Crist. They don’t want him in the Senate. Reverse psychology.
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:31 am
467K jobs cut in June; jobless rate at 9.5 percent
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090702/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_economy
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:32 am
Flight diverted after passenger undresses in seat
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090702/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_naked_airline_passenger;_ylt=ArCaxAmrsT1P_mu5SFeeFhPtiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJ2MXZzaXJ1BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwNzAyL3VzX29kZF9uYWtlZF9haXJsaW5lX3Bhc3NlbmdlcgRjcG9zAzEEcG9zAzEEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDZmxpZ2h0ZGl2ZXJ0
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:52 am
Crist is another larry craig waiting to happen. the media all knows that he is a closeted gay man who has supported anti-gay legislation. crist would add to the ensign/sanford fiascos and continue to hurt the party.
rubio is young, intelligent, articulate, conservative, and hispanic. there really is no reason to support crist, zero.
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:54 am
The cracker on the left is afraid of Crist. They don’t want him in the Senate. Reverse psychology.
NO. NOT “reverse psychology.” They’re telling the truth about what they think.
This is utter paranoia…everyone’s hiding their true intentions from you.
You think that when people say they loathe Palin, they really fear her.
You think that when Democrats say they like Crist, they really fear him.
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:11 am
The film OUTRAGE will hurt Crist in the long term, and at some point the MSM will finally be willing to investigate what we all already know; that Crist is a gay man living a lie, and he will be yet another GOP sex scandal.
If Rubio wins this seat, he will be a huge star in the party. Don’t be shocked if this whole thing is being worked behind the scenes by Jeb Bush. Bush is allied strongly with Romney, and Rubio is his protege. Can you say Romney/Rubio 2012???
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:12 am
They really do fear him, though, as far as the election goes. The link in comment 1 proves that. They know that it would be very, very difficult and costly for the Democrats to defeat Charlie Crist in this race. The NRSC wold almost certainly have to either abandon the seat or pour resources there and spread themselves thin elsewhere, opening up for other vulnerabilities.
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:53 am
Of course they fear him…they can’t defeat him. But they aren’t “Secretly afraid that he’ll take on Obama hard” rather than be a decent moderate.
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:21 pm
they can’t beat rubio either.
who would you fear more, a tan version of larry craig or a young, articulate, hispanic republican???
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Intellectually honest people don’t think Crist is a tan version of Larry Craig. He is articulate and intelligent, regardless of how not conservative he is. And Marco Rubio, for the most part, has yet to emerge as a real force to anyone but politically attentive Republicans. That could change, but for now, no, the Democrats don’t fear Marco Rubio, because they think he’s beatable. Kos said it best in the link in #1. They want to prop up Rubio because that gives them at least a fighting chance. No poll has shown that Rubio is unbeatable in Florida, and with the right amount of resources, Rubio’s defeat is certainly not out of the question.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:37 pm
#20…
I dont know if Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney are pulling the strings here… Romney hasnt endorsed Rubio, but Huckabee (Romney’s main rival in the party seemingly) has endorsed Rubio. It would great to see Huckabee and Romney both campaign hard for Rubio, as they have for Bob McDonell up in VA.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:43 pm
24,
taking anti-gay stances while being secretly gay is larry craig-esque to say the least, and it’s not something we need.
you don’t think a corrupt hack like kendrick meek wont do all he can to expose the truth about crist?
July 2nd, 2009 at 6:23 pm
#20, I don’t think your analysis about Jeb working behind the scenes for Romney so Rubio could be Romney’s VP is correct because Romney hasn’t endorsed Rubio and Huck has. Also, Rubio endorsed Huckabee in the Florida 08 primaries.
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Is Charlie Crist gay? Has that been proven? It would be hard for Kendrick Meek to make that a campaign issue unless it really came out, and if it was really going to come out, it would have come out a while ago. There’s also a difference between keeping one’s private sex life private and soliciting sex in a public bathroom stall.