The American Spectator : Goodbye, Charlie

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Goodbye, Charlie

Crist campaign circles the drain.

(Page 2 of 2)

It will be even harder this session, which begins next week, to find $3 billion more in cuts or revenue increases. So with this in mind, Crist pitched in by submitting a proposed budget calling for hundreds of millions in new spending on K-12, the university system, and environmental projects. Crist introduced his proposed budget in steps, mostly in front of the constituencies for the new spending that he knows will never happen. He's once again thrown the legislature under the bus, leaving it to legislators to balance the budget and be the bad guys who have to tell those expecting the new spending the governor proposed that it won't happen. What a guy.

The plan backfired. Whatever support Crist has received from those wanting more spending for education and the environment is tempered by the fact that Florida media saw through the scam and gigged Crist for it. The legislature didn't take the proposed budget seriously.

The only thing left to a desperate Crist to turn things around is to go negative. To try to find something with which to tarnish Rubio. So far Crist's attempts to paint Rubio as a big spender, a tax increaser, or a proponent of cap and trade have been pretty much laughed off by Republican voters and most of the state's media. The facts just don't support any of these charges.

The latest gambit of the Crist campaign is to try to suggest that somehow Rubio engaged in some shady spending with a Republican Party of Florida credit card Rubio had when he was Speaker and was crisscrossing the state to support Republican candidates and raise money for the party. This probably won't get much traction either. Rubio has said that he kept his personal and party spending separate. In any case, he says, he didn't spend as much in the almost three years he had a party credit card than Crist's hand-picked, high-rolling state party chairman Jim Greer spent in a month. (Greer was recently obliged to resign his party chairmanship because he was better at spending party money than raising it.) The state party approved Rubio's expenditures.

Florida national committeewoman Sharon Day jumped into the fray after the word surfaced that Rubio's credit card expenses were in question.

"I'm not upset with Marco Rubio at all," Day said. "If you can raise $12 million on $110,000, we all should be that good."

So there it is. Crist attached himself to a new president when said president was popular, and tried to woo Democrats and independents by supporting the big government projects that were popular in 2007 and 2008. Now that he's facing a solid conservative candidate in a conservative year, this support has proven toxic. It will probably cost Crist his political career. Not many will be crying. Most in the party have moved on to "other opportunities."

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topics:
Charlie Crist, U.S. Senate Races 2010, Marco Rubio

About the Author

Larry Thornberry is a writer in Tampa.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (37) | Leave a comment

Kenny| 2.26.10 @ 6:56AM

I wonder what the odds are that Crist will try the 3rd party route.

Alarm1201| 2.26.10 @ 7:46AM

Crist is all we need - another non-principled, stick you finger in the air, high spending liberal.

I hope his fall is a lesson to all republicans, stay conservative and do not take your base for granted!

cristy| 2.28.10 @ 11:10PM

I agree with you !

hope republicans can learn more from his fall

http://www.udtek.com/lcd-charger-c-4.html

John - TMF| 2.26.10 @ 8:34AM

Here in the Old Dominion, we suffered from a Charlie Crist (RINO-Self). His name was John Warner. He was handed the nomination that he lost to Richard Obenshain in 1980, after Obenshain died in a plane crash. Of course Foghorn was the newly minted "Mr. Liz Taylor" to spice up the gimmick.

Never a completely reliable vote, the Virginia GOP spent the next several decades trying to shed him by calling a State Convention (all GOP - no cross overs) to not re-nominate him... Warner jobbed the system and won a law suit that re-affirmed a Byrd Machine era law that allowed the incumbent to pick the method of his nomination. Virginia, courtesy of the odious Harry Flood Byrd Machine again, is an open primary state where anyone can vote in any party's primary as long as they don't vote in the other. Warner's Democrats showed up dutifully to keep him nominated, and Warner stayed in their debt.

The issue came to a head when a State Convention nominated Ollie North to run against Warner's buddy Chuckles Robb... So Warner stalks off in a huff, backs a mushy RINO Marsh Coleman for the seat as an IN-DE-PEN-DANT... and splits the vote up enough to get his (Warner's) buddy Chuckles the Clown elected again.

Of course instead of doing the honorable thing, leaving the party and running as an independent. Warner continued to impose himself via his Democrat voters, on the Republican Party... most folks with whom I worked had bruises on their noses from pinching so hard in the voting booth.

Of course, the wishy washy limp Mark Warner has replaced Foghorn Leghorn... so nothing much changed except a D for an R.

That is a Crist sort of thing. Crist is John Warner and Arlen Spectre all rolled into one neat little self-dealing and self-serving package.

My Floridian pals need to be aware of being trapped. If Crist does what his huge self-important ego tells him to do and jump ship to the Democrats(cum Indie) getting Rubio elected is going to be a hard slog.

Florida is in for a nasty election cycle.

r/The Mighty Fahvaag

Curly Smith| 2.26.10 @ 9:55AM

Thanks John - TMF for the (RINO-Self). It very effectively summarizes the RINO ideology.

John - TMF| 2.26.10 @ 10:21AM

Foghorn Leghorn was elected in 1978... sorry rusty memory... Though his RINO characteristics didn't start appearing until the middle of Reagan's second term and the Dems took control of the Senate in 1986. When someone else was in charge, Warner followed his bulbous nose to the smell of personal power.

He led the assault of the Self party on Reagan, North, and the Contras for his new masters the Democrats.

I never voted for him in a primary or general election again. I never voted for a Democrat. The ballot merely reflected with I thought of his honor; BLANK.

r/TMF

loulou| 2.26.10 @ 12:43PM

What am I missing?
Crist is irrelevant--whether he runs as a Dem or an Ind. Crist won't take votes from Rubio supporters--any votes he gets would come out of Meek's (or whomever the Dems nominate) hide.

ExPat| 2.26.10 @ 9:44PM

What a great summary of Virginia RINO politics. I lived in VA from 70-93 and can attest to everything you said here. Warner was a typical Senator: an arrogant, condescending, elitist, self styled patrician. Having lived in FL for the next 15 years I gradually developed the same opinion of Charlie. Birds of a feather.

James| 2.26.10 @ 8:46AM

Florida has a closed primary - you must be a registered Republican to vote in the Republican primary. I think Rubio will win the Senate seat regardless of what Crist does.

Charlie needs to change his last name to "Crisp" - as in toast.

Tim| 2.26.10 @ 9:22AM

We ,Tea Party Rebels support Marco Rubio . The Rebellion escalates.

Tim| 2.26.10 @ 3:39PM

I told you, stop putting words in my mouth.

MikeF1| 2.26.10 @ 10:12AM

As conservatives we just need to be steadfast, patient and diligent. I believe Florida will not only nominate Rubio from the Republican side but that he will also win in November. It may take the conservatives a few election cycles to gain the dominat control we need to really fix the mess the RINO's and liberals have gotten us into. But, if we stay alert and keep pushing hard all of the time, we will prevail because the vast majority of the people in this country are conservative. We need more like Rubio who have charisma and can articulate the conservative vision across a broad spectrum of people. Keep the faith.

Stuart (Austin, TX)| 2.26.10 @ 10:56AM

When your own hometown (Pinellas County, Florida) Republican Executive Committee shoots you down WHILE YOU OCCUPY THE GOVERNOR'S MANSION, there is no future in your GOP membership. Crist is history, unless he switches parties and starts schmoozing the Democrat-heavy Palm Beach, Broward, Leon, Orange and Hillsborough Counties. Charlie is a chameleon (e.g., he got where he is without ever coming out of the closet), so I wouldn't put it past him. Good riddance to another RINO. Jeb Bush, being from the Bush family is also probably unreliable as a true conservative. Neither George H.W. Bush with his tax-hike nor George W. Bush with his sailor-pn-shore-leave spending habits were paragons of conservative principles in the Oval Office, so Jeb is probably afflicted with the RINO gene himself. Florida can do better. Go Rubio!

loulou| 2.26.10 @ 12:45PM

I certainly hope Jeb the RINO isn't planning to run for another office. The Bush family has done enough damage to this country.

Elizabeth Craine| 2.26.10 @ 6:47PM

Jeb Bush was a great governor. He is as conservative as they come. I would vote for him in a heartbeat if he ran again.

xcon| 2.28.10 @ 10:15AM

Jeb was a very good governor.
Compare Louisiana during the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 and compare Florida.
I wish Jeb would have run against that space cadet senator bill nelson in 2006. We would have one less idiot liberal representing Florida in the US Senate.

Clint Lovell| 2.26.10 @ 11:35AM

There is a pattern here and a list of now infamous players...

John McCain
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arlen Specter
Olympia Snow
Susan Collins
Charlie Crist

They all claimed the mantle of being Republicans but they are really liberals who can't "go home" to the left because the leftists would never trust them. Arnold, John and Charlie are being made to pay the price or have already paid. Arnold will walk off the world stage and disappear into an abyss of failure. John will never be nominated by the party to do anything other than hold the door for the first real conservative that comes along. Snow and Collins will be forced to pay the price and their personal political legacy will be laced with charges of treachery, flip-flopping and a lack of personal courage. Their descendants will be hounded and their politics will be rejected for what they are.

Charlie is learning that not every liberal is worth kissing. Sorry, Charlie. Not every tuna is Star Kist.

Bram| 2.26.10 @ 12:57PM

You forgot Lindsey Graham and George Voinovich.

Ryan| 2.26.10 @ 1:24PM

What suprises me a little bit is that we haven't heard here from any of Crist's defenders. Usually campaigns that are at least SUPPOSED to be savvy combat negative views on sites like this.

PCP Smoker| 2.26.10 @ 6:24PM

Now, all of you RINO-defending motherfuckers, arguing that conservatives can't win on this state or that state, all I can say is...eat it. Eat it bitches.

You see this Crist was your creation. He was the "New Majority". He was "Comeback Conservatism". He was "Crunchy Conservatism". He was "Compassionate Conservatism". He was "WallMart Conservatism-That Can Win Again-But Only ifIt Capitulates to the Left". Most of all, he was a blow dried, phony, repubick.

He was the creation of your pathetic minds, and he ended getting his ass kicked by an unabashed Reaganite with a slight cuban accent. And have no doubt, Marco got his lesson about freedom and the free market from the mom and dad.

If you are conservative and you bought into Frum, Ben Stein, Dreher, Douthat, or the rest of those fucks, put a gun in your mouth and pull the fucking trigger.

The Clintidote| 2.26.10 @ 11:49PM

Wow, how eloquent.

Stephanie| 2.27.10 @ 5:44AM

WOW! Lovely post.
Some anger management is in order here, I do believe. Potty mouth.

Matt Morehouse| 2.27.10 @ 9:58AM

By their language you shall know them.

Fascist| 3.2.10 @ 3:46PM

Some words from Hitler:

"Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the *Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord."

* You may replace it with: leftist thoughts.

clairesolt| 2.27.10 @ 9:12AM

Last year the Republicans raised taqxes on cigarettes and passed a new seatbelt law. I don't vote Republican to get this kind of statism.

They need to tackle the bloated bureaucraqcy. Agencies for aging fill a book an inch thick, I spent three weeks calling thedm for help for a neighbor, All I got was the runaround. Another agency handles complaints about land sales and mlobile home parks. That is they log and file the 80,000 complaints. In spite of an elegant law that gives them power to cure, they just file them away.

Yosemeti Sam| 2.27.10 @ 11:19AM

Goodbye to Specter as well.

A phony baloney two-timing politico as ever there was.

james| 2.27.10 @ 11:34AM

We in Florida know for sure that Crist is gone, and not just because he's a faithless two-timing liberal, but because Rubio is a stellar candidate and a fine man. This is not going to be a vote against Crist, although he is deeply hated; it is going to be a vote for Rubio. And in the general, if Democrat Meeks gets 20% it will be a miracle.

fuzal shop| 2.27.10 @ 2:17PM

Crist is a great guy, he did a better job then Jeb Bush.

Online Clothing

Charles Martel| 2.28.10 @ 12:00AM

If you came here to sell a product, you picked a funny way to do it.

Jeb was the Bush who was supposed to be president. Had he won the gubernatorial election in 1994, as his brother George did here in Texas that year, he likely would have been.

Any Floridians want to chime in and tell us what happened back then? I know it involved some skullduggery on behalf of Lawton Chiles, but I'm very fuzzy on the details.

+++

maire| 2.28.10 @ 8:52PM

We need to close the primaries in all the states - too many are currently open. Otherwise, we'll consistently have dems selecting the repub candidates.

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