Florida’s lighter-than-air former governor, former attorney general, former education commissioner, former state senator and current trial-lawyer pitch-man Charlie Crist has endorsed Democrat Congressman Patrick Murphy of Jupiter (not the planet but the South Florida town) for the U.S. Senate seat that Crist himself has run for twice and lost. It’s the seat Marco Rubio will almost certainly not run for re-election to in 2016 in favor of running for president.
Crist is one of the few politicians in the history of the republic who can claim to have lost statewide races as a Republican, as an independent, and as a Democrat. When Crist sought the Senate seat he is endorsing Murphy for, he lost to Marco Rubio by 20 points in 2010. This past fall Crist lost the Florida governor’s race to Rick Scott, the most uncomfortable and awkward politician ever to bestride a podium, and one of the least popular elected officials in Florida’s history.
Crist’s endorsement is clearly a blow to the nascent Murphy campaign. But it’s early days, so Murphy has time to recover.
