2010 Senate Race: Charlie Crist as Republican or Independent?
Will Governor Charlie Crist Run for the Senate as an Independent?
Republican Momentum for Rubio
According to several national polls, Crist is trailing the young, charismatic Marco Rubio by as many as twenty points, a dramatic turn-around from the beginning of the Senate campaign. Conservative leaders such as former Vice President Dick Cheney, Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Former Governors Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, and U.S. House Republican Whip Eric Cantor have recently come out with glowing endorsements of Rubio. A new Quinnipiac poll of 1,250 registered Republicans shows the Governor badly trailing the former Florida House Speaker in the GOP primary with only 33 percent of the vote as compared to Rubio's 56 percent. This same poll made an additional, possibly game-changing discovery; when put into a three-way general election with Democrat Kendrick Meek and Marco Rubio, the poll shows Governor Crist ahead with 32 percent of the vote. Here in Florida, the speculation of an independent run for Crist has kicked into high gear.
Crist Distances Himself From the Florida Republican Establishment
It now appears that Crist is distancing himself from the Florida Republican Party by vetoing two key Republican-backed bills in the last month. One of the bills involved dramatic changes in how Florida teachers would be evaluated and retained, and the other bill would have allowed the creation of soft-money fundraising "leadership funds." This legislation was high priority to the State Republican leadership, and the resulting veto led to a heightened level of tension in Tallahassee. Recently, Crist has even softened earlier statements in which he emphatically declared that he would run as a Republican.
In addition to this, The Miami Herald reported on April 3rd, "Governor Charlie Crist asked federal authorities Friday to investigate the Republican Party of Florida amid growing concerns about misspent money." Rubio and other State Republican leaders are fending off accusations of corruption, secret deals, and misuse of Party finances that occurred during their time in the Legislature. When asked about the impending investigation, Crist said, "This thing stinks." Needless to say, this did little to squash continued rumors and speculation about the future of Crist's Senate campaign in our state.
Crist Must Decide
With an April 30th deadline looming, Charlie Crist must decide if he will run in the 2010 Senate race as a Republican or as an Independent. Often referred to as "The People's Governor," Charlie Crist will have to make this difficult decision, drawing on years of experience working in the trenches for the citizens of our state. Without the Republican Party backing, the political future of our embattled Governor relies exclusively on the will of the people of Florida. Stay tuned for the outcome.
Sources
Slush Funds- http://www.bradenton.com/2010/04/09/2191370/crists-veto-of-slush-funds-sends.html#ixzz0m3qJfGkD
Cheney Endorsement- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/22/AR2010042203035.html
Cantor Endorsement- http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/20/cantor-endorses-rubio-florida-senate-race/
Investigation- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/03/charlie-crist-asks-for-fe_n_524421.html
Veto's- http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/state_news/041510source:-shakeup-to-come-in-senate-race
FL Republican Scandal
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gTukcfTSVtJlwIXLYjPrfXa0j54AD9F9JDTO1
http://www.marcorubio.com/marco-101/
http://charliecrist.com/
Published by StillWideAwake
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4 Comments
Post a CommentWell presented story. Thanks for the balanced view. Personally, I prefer a more predictable leader, and Crist has been all over the place on the issues. I like leadership that can live up to the old adage, "What you see is what you get." Let's see if Meeks and Rubio can deliver that.
I'm voting for Crist. Rubio is just too outside of the mainstream. Crist has had the bad luck of Governing during a recession. The R's in the state legislature are the real problem.
Really...on purpose? Why would be their motive? I saw that same poll cited by several other news outlets, including the AP. Wouldn't they vet that before going public? I think you're missing something Danny...maybe too much Tea?
Crist does not actually lead in any poll in any scenario.
The press release from the Quinnipiac University poll showing Crist as the leader was incorrect. (on purpose?)
The following is taken from their website:
""If Crist were to file as an independent for the general election, he would get 32 percent of the vote, compared to Rubio's 30 percent and Meeks 24 percent."
"In a three-way general election:
Crist would get 30 percent of Republicans, 27 percent of Democrats and 38 percent of independent voters;
Rubio would receive 64 percent of GOP votes, 5 percent from Democrats and 29 percent of independents:
Meek, a congressman from South Florida, would get 55 percent of Democratic votes, 15 percent of independents and no Republicans.""
You can add these numbers up for yourself, these percentile totals show Rubio with 98, Crist with 95 and Meek with 70.
That equates to Rubio at 32.6%, Crist at 31.6% and Meek at 23.3% of the vote in a three-way race.
You