Crist's last stand
Florida Governor Charlie Crist's opportunistic Senate campaign has been as fickle as the wind. His contradictory statements are the stuff of legend, and polls show Floridians disapprove of his multi-faceted, hypocritical pandering for money and votes.
Never say never, or so we're told. This is usually good advice but in the case of Florida Governor Charlie Crist, an exception may be warranted. With just 40 days to go until Florida's U.S. Senate election, it appears that the bloom has fallen off the Crist rose.
Just one year ago, Independent Florida Senate candidate Charlie Crist (then a Republican and popular sitting Governor) was on top of the world. His poll approval numbers were in the stratosphere. His hand-picked Senate seat-warmer, George LeMieux, was firmly ensconced in Washington, D.C. as a Crist-appointed replacement for the retired Senator Mel Martinez.
Everything was in place for Charlie Crist's annointment as Florida's next senator: He counted millions in campaign cash, was hugely popular statewide, and held a 35-point polling lead over his nearest Republican Senate primary campaign rival - a former Florida House Speaker with little name recognition and a nearly non-existent funding stream - Marco Rubio.
The wheels come off
However, in politics as in life, things are not always as they seem on the surface. After months of joblessness, an economy in meltdown, debt, spending, home foreclosures, illegal aliens, government expropriation of industries, ObamaCare, and a slew of wealth-pilfering legislation neither wanted nor needed, the disillusionment felt by a majority of the American people turned into anger toward the Obama regime and Democrat Congress. Floridians were no different. By winter, anyone who was cozy with the Obama regime began to feel the backlash. This is when things started to unravel for Crist.
The short version of what next transpired is that Charlie Crist was undone by his literal embrace of Obama and the stimulus. This coupled with his cap and trade stance, several economic and"Crist's betrayal of his party, political allies, financial supporters, and constituency are turning out to be his undoing." political flip-flops as governor, Florida's double-digit unemployment, and downward spiral of state industries brought about a stunning reversal of fortune.
In a matter of weeks, Crist's popularity plummeted and he suddenly found himself 20 points down - and plummeting - to Marco Rubio in every poll taken for the Republican primary. It is at this juncture that Crist, rather than drop out of the race and challenge beatable Democrat Senator Bill Nelson in 2012, abandoned the Republican Party to run as an Independent. Crist's betrayal of his party, political allies, financial supporters, and constituency are turning out to be his undoing.
All things to all voters
Charlie Crist, now known to most Floridians as "Flipper" Crist, is in a three-way Senate battle that includes himself, Republican Marco Rubio, and Democrat Kendrick Meek. His only hope for victory is to make a play to steal away potential votes from the other two. Yet to do so Crist has been forced to present"Crist has found that it is nearly impossible to be consistent in his appeal to so many different groups." so many different faces to so many different special-interest groups that whatever principles he once owned have long-since been discarded. He can no longer take a stand on an issue for fear of contradicting what he promised at any previous campaign rally.
Politico reporter David Catanese summed it up thusly: "As an Independent Florida Senate candidate Charlie Crist is walking a political tightrope, delivering tailored messages to different pockets of voters with the goal of building a bipartisan voting coalition. But the governor is finding that micro-targeting becomes much more complicated when both of your opponents are eager to highlight any hint of hypocrisy or mixed messaging." Indeed, Crist has found that it is nearly impossible to be consistent in his appeal to so many different groups.
Which is precisely why Rubio and Meek are hammering out campaign ads that highlight Crist's flip-flops and lack of consistent message - and their attacks are working. According to Rasmussen's latest polling survey of likely voters, Marco Rubio (R) is leading with 41 percent, Crist (I) at 30 percent, and Meek (D) 23 percent.
Wishful thinking
Months ago, when Charlie Crist first announced his independent campaign, he enjoyed an initial surge and a single-digit lead over Marco Rubio. This remarkable turnaround of support stemmed from moderate Democrats siding with him over Democrat Meek on the basis that the governor was the most electable alternative to Rubio. His popularity with Democrats was sustained by the Gulf oil spill and his close encounters with Obama. Since that time, however, the oil spill is a memory, Meek has slowly siphoned off Democrat voters from Crist and shows no sign of slowing down, and Rubio has regained his steady climb in the polls.
Which underlines Crist's last, best hope. If Florida Democrats see that Meek is not likely to win against Rubio - and polls indicate Meek is a long shot at best - Crist may enjoy a certain percentage of voters peeling off from Meek and supporting him. Obviously, the reverse is true for Meek. But in either case, to depend upon such an occurrence for success is tantamount to saving the farm by wishing for rain in a severe drought.
Yet, given Crist's history as a political winner and Rubio's untested strength statewide, few analysts are willing to count Crist completely out. But barring any October surprise, it may very well be that Charlie Crist has made his last political stand - at least for this year.
Hype and Chains for 40 more days.