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Campaign Crawlers
Curiouser and Curiouser
The pear-shaped Senate race in Florida.
TAMPA — The Brits have a great expression for when affairs go out of control. When things unravel they’re said to have “gone a bit pear-shaped.” This is what’s happened to the current U.S. Senate race in Florida, where it’s not only difficult to tell who’s on first, it’s not even clear who’s contending to be the Democrat in the race.
The race has been in focus a couple of times. First it was the then popular RINO Governor Charlie Crist who was going to win this seat on cruise control. Establishment endorsements and cash showed up big-time for Crist when he announced. Then conservative former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio ran a great retail campaign based on conservative themes of limited government, personal freedom, capitalism over government bureaucrats, and taking it to our enemies.
Rubio pledged to oppose the Obama administration’s leftward lurch, which he says threatens to change the very nature of America in ways Americans don’t want. This proved so popular with Florida’s Republicans, with independents, and even some Democrats, that Crist’s 50 point lead over Rubio turned into a 20 to 30 point deficit, and it appeared Rubio would cruise to the Republican nomination and easily beat Miami Congressman Kendrick Meek in the general, the only Democrat in the race during this period of clarity.
Then things went out of focus again. Facing sure defeat in the Republican primary, Crist, after promising countless times that he would not leave the Republican Party and run as an independent, left the Republican Party and is running as an independent. He stopped trying to impersonate a conservative and started groping every liberal position on issues like Bill Clinton used to… But, I digress.
About the same time, a really rich guy and former Republican got into the race on the Democratic side and started spending his money like Barack Hussein Obama spends ours. He’s now in a tie with Meek. All this spending and political cross-dressing has put the Florida race back out of focus.
Right now the strongest candidate for Florida Democrats may be the mercurial Crist (I-Charlie), a registered (if not functioning) Republican until April 30. Crist holds a slight lead over conservative Rubio in most polls, and a large one over any registered Democrat so far mentioned for the job.
The two guys with Ds after their names contending for the spot include Meek, an aged-in-the-barrel liberal who inherited his congressional seat from his mother and who is a faithful enabler of the Obama agenda. He voted for ObamaCare, cap and trade, the slush fund, the whole disaster. The other is Jeff Greene, a kind of anti-real-estate investor who became incomprehensively rich through a legal though toxic investment vehicle that amounts to a bet that people can’t make their mortgage payments.
In addition to making a fortune out of personal misery, Greene’s personal life has its downright quirky side. At Greene’s 2007 wedding his best man was Mike Tyson (prompting the obvious question — who the hell was the worst?). He was Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss’s landlord when he lived in California, which was up until 2008, leaving Greene open to the charge of being a carpetbagger.
Greene is not only nearly as peculiar a Democrat as Crist was a Republican, but he has also run for Congress once and lost. In 1982, in California, as a Republican. How you work this biography into a narrative suitable for the Party of Carin’ n’ Compassion is anyone’s guess. Florida Democratic insiders are squirming because Greene and Meek are currently in a dead heat in the polls and they don’t want to go into the general election with Greene atop their ticket. At least Meek, an African American, would increase black turnout and help Democrats in other contests. Polls show either Rubio or Crist would beat either one of these guys badly.
That’s why Crist, who as recently as early spring was trying to impersonate Ronald Reagan in an attempt to out-conservative Rubio, and is now rushing flank-speed to the left, may be the Florida Democrat’s best choice. Crist, who’ll dance with anyone who’ll advance his political career, is doing nothing to discourage this kind of thinking. He’s even hinted he might caucus with the Democrats if he’s elected.
Rubio has said he wants to go to Washington to throw a spanner into the sprocket of the Obama agenda. Far better for Obama and his merry band to have the pliable Crist in the Senate than Rubio. And neither of the real Ds, who are trashing each other in their campaigns (they both appear to be right about each other), have much of a chance in center-right Florida in November.
Here’s just an abbreviated list of Crist’s positions which have “evolved” since he gave up the fiction of being a Republican:
• Even as a Republican Crist was both for and against drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Post-Republican and Post-BP, Crist says he wants a ban on Gulf drilling in the Florida constitution.
• Competing for the Republican nomination with pro-life Rubio, Crist talked pro-life. Post-Republican he first removed all pro-life material from his website and then vetoed a bill put through by Republican Florida legislators that would have required a woman to have and review an ultra-sound test before deciding to have an abortion. He called the requirement “mean-spirited.” No mention of what he calls abortion now.
• As a Republican, Crist wanted tough restrictions on travel to Cuba. After going bare, he wanted them loosened.
About the Author
Larry Thornberry is a writer in Tampa.
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Melvin| 6.22.10 @ 7:22AM
Well, it is looking more and more Old Charlie is going to win the FL Senate Seat by the skin of his teeth, but why worry he is going to be in good company with the rest of the blue hairs of sparkling white $1000.00 coiffures who imagine themselves as the second coming of JFK.
The vast majority of Congressmen and Senators are corrupt to the core, so why should we complain about Charlie.
But ya got to admit the fake tan is a bit over the top don't ya think?
JP| 6.22.10 @ 7:41AM
Good ol' Charlie will fit in just fine in the Senate. Backroom deals, earmarks, flip-flops, and plenty of knives in the backs to the GOP. It goes without saying he will caucus with the Dems until 2012. Once Obama loses along with the builk of 25 Democratic Senators, Crist will discover his conservative roots and join Graham, Lugar, Hatch, Saxby, Brown, Collins, and Snowe. Crist appears more and more to resemble Florida's version of Snarlin' Arlene. Of course, the GOP will gladly accept such an unprincipaled pol.
Chris Crowley| 6.22.10 @ 7:33AM
Charlie Crist, in a stunning announcement and looking to gain traction with Florida's female voters, today revealed he is actually a woman. He is also considering seeking the Bull Moose Party endorsement and stated the fact he once even had an abortion himself, seeking the NARAL endorsement.
Purple Lips| 6.22.10 @ 7:49AM
In a surprise visit to an Islamic cultural center in Florida, the former govenor announced that he has deep roots with Islam. Crist claims that he has ancestry that goes back to many Caliphs, and that he real name is Achmed Faissal Abdullah bin Sultan Jackal.
But later he appeared at a Jewish retirement home and claimed that his Jewish roots go back to a shettl in the Ukraine. He told a shocked crowd that as a young grade schooler he wrote the orginal Fiddler on the Roof. He was about to drop his pants to show his circumcision when aides immediatly whisked him away to another meeting where he was to appear at a KKK fundraiser. In all, a campaign aide said, Govenor Crist is the only candidate with broad ethnic appeal.
Burned to a| 6.22.10 @ 2:24PM
I fully expect Crist to disclose his long held secret that he served in Vietnam too!
tom7001| 6.22.10 @ 7:35AM
Reagan said government is the problem! And lifted usary rate banks could charge. The 90's republican revolution, less government regulation! And now we have world wide wall street financial disasters. Less regulation oil spilling into the Gulf, peoples lives and businesses ruined. And interest rates on credit cards at 35% and higher, you might as well borrow from the mafia, they might break your legs, but they would heal before your credit rating! Be careful what you vote for, republicans are parroting the same montra. Rubio is talking the republican talk, but personal actions as big spender dead beat, not walking the walk! Crist is no longer a republican, not walking in lockstep with republicans, go Charlie!
Melvin| 6.22.10 @ 7:55AM
I hate to inform you Tom that the Democrats have been in charge since 2006 and not to forget the Clinton administration and the majority of these failures had more to do with failed Democrat policies, Dodd, Frank of Fannie Mae fame. Republicans crap isn't pure either, but raping the middle class has always be the fortay of Democrats and Progressives.
We know have a VAT tax on the horizon, a huge tax increase on the end of the year, and a Cap and Trade Legislation that will destroy our economy and make electricity a luxury for government employees because they will only be the ones who can afford it.
Yea, go Charlie go.
Purple Lips| 6.22.10 @ 8:09AM
Ah Tom, what selective memories you have! There are over 100,000 pages of regulations that our federal nannies use to regulate everything from toilets to lawnmowers. My personal favorite is Sarbaines Oxley of post-Enron fame. It was written by the Big 4 accounting firms despite the fact that it was an accounting firm (Authur Anderson) that enabled Enron in the first place! And it was Sarbox's Mark-to-Market accounting regulations that casued the breathtaking loses at Lehman's, Bear Stearns, and AIG.
And lets not forget that Reid and Pelosi have run Congress for over 3 years now. They have had amplt to put the screws to Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Everything through congressional oversight. Obama has been at the helm (and the greens) for 18 months. Oh yes, it is all Bush and Cheney's fault! They are the gift that keeps on giving!
Tom| 6.22.10 @ 9:55AM
Care to show me exactly what regulation was repealed/amended/re-written that would have made the Gulf oil spill impossible?
I keep hearing about how the republicans lowered regulations but frankly I have not seen an awful lot of that. The problem, typically, is not lack of regulation it is badly designed and enforced regulations.
BA Cyclone| 6.24.10 @ 10:50AM
Quite the contrary the Bush-era MMS showed quite demonstrable improvements in offshore safety and well controls. The facts are out there and publicly available. You won't read them in a paper as those would bring an unflattering light to the present leadership.
http://www.redstate.com/vladim.....a-inherit/
Ken (Old Texican)| 6.22.10 @ 8:03AM
One can only hope,
...that the Florida majority of voters retain some sanity come November.
bull-gator| 6.22.10 @ 9:38AM
They won't. I lived there for way too long. Ain't nothing gonna change those people. I had to leave because the place is getting to be as nutty as California.
Sheila| 6.22.10 @ 9:29AM
Ken (Old Texican) - since the majority of Florida's population now consists of liberal Jews from New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, as well as lots of Mexicans, Haitians, and Cubans, I think you can count on anything but sanity come November.
Tom| 6.22.10 @ 10:15AM
Jews are only 3% of the population of Florida. Which is somewhat short of a majority.
I do not know who will win in November, although my bet is Rubio, but if Crist wins it will not be because of the 'Jewish' vote.
JmsA| 6.22.10 @ 2:59PM
Sheila,
I don't about Mexicans or Haitians, but I believe Cubans have a history of voting overwhelmingly Republican.
WRJonas | 6.22.10 @ 9:30AM
The uncalculated factor in all of this is of course the oil slowly drifting Florida's way. How will voters react to the sludge washing into their bays, beaches and back yards?
I don't see how any current politician can "splain his way around that.
Mike| 6.22.10 @ 10:14AM
Mr. Thornberry:
"No Party Charlie"
What a great line. I hope Rubio uses it to great effect in the fall.
Mike Johnston
SFC USA (RET)
Ned| 6.22.10 @ 11:15AM
So, what's the big deal? Although somewhat condensed, this sordid business is in no way different from every other political race in the country. It's even calm and rational when compared to Teddy Kennedy's self-aggrandizing "career". (See TAS article today)
They (politicians - all the way down to your class president in high school) are in it to become famous, and to grab double handfuls of your money at every opportunity. Nobody would put up with the slime that they wallow in that is our political system without nefarious motives... not surprisingly, I almost never vote "for" anyone... instead I vote against the other guy.
However, based upon the past 4-6 years that "for" decision will be easy... no Demonrats, ever.
Mark Shepler- Jupiter, FL| 6.22.10 @ 11:37AM
I wouldn't throw in the towel on Rubio just yet. Crist is moving decidedly and openly left with Dem party heavies openly discussing coming in to support him. Just last week there were stories in the national press to that effect. Greene is a tainted, vulgar eccentric and Meeks is the idiot heir of Florida's version of Maxine Waters whom I once had the distinct displeasure of lobbying. Greene is only gaining because he presents an alternative to Meeks, who doesn't sell north of Liberty City. The Dems know they cannot count on either of these clowns and will place their bets on Crist. It's too late for Crist to formally switch parties, yet again, but my guess is he will be at first the unofficial, then openly designated, de facto Democratic alternative to Rubio with official Demdom saying so. Rubio would be wise to paint him as such from here on to peel off unwary independents. The election tide is definitely anti-incumbent in general but anti-liberal and anti-Obama Democrat in particular. It shouldn't be too hard from Crist's record and recent leftward lurches to show him up as a willing Igor to Obama's Frankenstein administration.
Shamus| 6.22.10 @ 1:06PM
Judas Crist
Boston12GS| 6.22.10 @ 3:15PM
With oil threatening to soil Florida's coast (both sides), and the hurricane season looking to throw that oil well inland, and Obama fighting tooth and nail to negate effective methods from preventing this (e.g., declining the offer from many countries, including the Netherlands, from sending skimmers over to suck up the oil), you'd think it would be a no brainer that Floridians would be intensely fed up by the Democrat response to this disaster.
Of course, Barton did us no good at all. He opened the door for a spin that it's the REPUBLICANS responsible for the spill. Not that this is true, of course, by now we appear sympathetic to BP--and I doubt anybody can doubt BP must be held legitimately responsible.
Thanks, dude. Really. Not.
ChuckD| 6.22.10 @ 7:49PM
I think "legitimately responsible" is the key here. Barton stood on his principles, which is that Presidents are not kings and should not be allowed to make decrees against corporations or people. We are supposed to be a nation of laws, not men. Barton was right.
RCV| 6.22.10 @ 5:44PM
Florida is another example where the GOP is managing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. By rejecting Republicans with cross-party support, they are handing wins to the Democrats , as they did in upstate New York, and are clearly doing so in Florida. Whys should Crist caucus with them when he wins? Even in Utah, they are fracturing, thanks to the tea baggers. As a Democrat, I say ... God bless!
james| 6.22.10 @ 6:59PM
It's possible that Crist will win, but don't count on it. I live in Florida and this is a state at war with itself (like so many others) and Crist is hated by everyone except democrats (shocker.) So the best chance to keep this Arlen Specter blackface out of office is to make sure Meek is nominated and that Rubio gets his campaign in gear.
Send money to Rubio. Now. Florida is the new California: as it goes so goes the nation. Don't let this happen to you, because it can.
Tim*| 6.22.10 @ 7:03PM
" Republican candidates now hold an eight-point lead over Democrats on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the week ending Sunday, June 20.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 44% of Likely U.S. Voters would vote for their district's Republican congressional candidate, while 36% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent. Last week, Republicans led 46% to 36%, tying the GOP's largest lead ever since it first edged ahead of the Democrats a year ago. "
LibertyMark| 6.23.10 @ 7:35PM
Let's hope Florida gets the Senator they need and no the one they deserve.
Not having tarred and feathered Crist already, they certainly may deserve him.