Allahpundit: Charlie Crist to Run as Independent
[Guest post by DRJ]
Allahpundit quotes reports that say Charlie Crist will run as an Independent in the Florida Senate race, billing himself as a Tea Party candidate:
“Yes, three cheers for Charlie Crist, the candidate of entrenched incumbent power, whose awakening to political independence was inspired by the noble virtues of naked ambition and transparent opportunism. And of course he’s a stimulus supporter and a newly minted union crony to boot. Truly he is the very incarnation of the tea-party ethos.”
I guess any transformation is possible in politics. After all, instead of listening to Obama1260AM, now Washington DC can listen to Townhall Talk Radio.
— DRJ
Charlie Crisp is done.
GeneralMalaise (24d3e0) — 4/21/2010 @ 4:26 pmThis whole idea that you can run as an independent on a “the hell with both parties” message seems to me to be completely misplaced. Who (other than Democrats) is it that is angriest at the GOP? I submit to you that it is staunch conservatives who don’t think the muddied message on spending and entitlement reform that Republican office holders have been giving the past decade. Who (other than Republicans) is maddest at the Democrats? I submit to you it is hardcore liberals who are mad that Obama has not removed the troops from the Middle East and Asia, gave in on the public option, isn’t supporting cap and trade (this year), and won’t push for card check legislation.
If you are going to run as a third-party candidate this year, it seems to me that it would make the most sense to run from the far left or the far right. I don’t see the American voter settling for the mushy moderate message this November. Maybe in 2012 it will have more resonance, but this is the season for extremes.
JVW (95c915) — 4/21/2010 @ 4:32 pmMaybe there are enough mushy middles. Haven’t some polls shown Crist winning if he runs as an Independent?
DRJ (09fa6c) — 4/21/2010 @ 4:46 pmCharlie is in for a very unpleasant surprise.
AD - RtR/OS! (83fa7e) — 4/21/2010 @ 5:01 pmThis makes me nervous. I worry that not just in Florida “independents” on ballots may pick up significant votes from people who are trying to make a statement–to say “a pox on both your houses”–regardless of who the candidate is or what the candidate stands for. Crist of course has the added benefit of having name recognition and has some known policy positions for voters to evaluate.
elissa (70f1f0) — 4/21/2010 @ 5:09 pmDRJ…
AD - RtR/OS! (83fa7e) — 4/21/2010 @ 5:09 pmYes, but when push comes to shove, the Teacher’s Union, which has been making “Love Charlie” noises, will endorse the Dem in the Fall and the loyal Dem electorate will fall in line, the Indies will go with Rubio due to Charlie’s love-fest with the Obowman, and he’s dead with all but the brain-dead GOP (who seem to be a smaller and smaller proportion of the Party – Thank You, TEA Party).
Also, his veto of the Ed-Reform bill, and going Indie, will bring Jeb out of the woodwork to endorse, support, and campaign for, Marco Rubio – the next Senator from the Sunshine State of Florida.
Charlie has every right to run as an Independent, but if runs as a Tea Partier …. he deserves to be run down like a rabid racoon with a Ford F350.
HeavenSent (a9126d) — 4/21/2010 @ 5:20 pmCharlie Christ is a Tea Partier? Must have been a conversion like Saul’s!
htom (412a17) — 4/21/2010 @ 5:30 pmI agree with AD. It’s fun to consider the possibility of an independent siphoning votes from both parties, but I think the country is so polarized that in the end the Dems will vote for a Democrat and the Repubs will vote for a Republican. I just don’t see Crist’s platform: I loved Obama’s stimulus bill, but now we need deficit reduction? ObamaCare is fundamentally good but we need to tinker at the edges to make sure it works and doesn’t blow a hole in the budget? I am wrong more often than not, but I don’t see that mushy kind of message resonating this November.
A situation like Joe Lieberman’s where he runs as an independent and wins votes from Republicans who can’t stand the idea of a far-left Democrat winning makes sense to me, but I can’t see that dynamic coming into play in this race unless the Dem candidate is really, really awful.
JVW (95c915) — 4/21/2010 @ 5:44 pmNo, he fell off the mule, but had a concussion not nearly the same thing
ian cormac (a0602a) — 4/21/2010 @ 6:00 pmHe’s trying to promote the big lie about the diversity of the tea party. Not gonna happen. But I do recall he polled ok in a tripartite poll.
imdw (c5488f) — 4/21/2010 @ 6:44 pmCharlie Crist = Orange Specter.
either orr (466a1d) — 4/21/2010 @ 8:53 pmhis style is socialist. after a bad hurricane year he formed a state home insurance company to control premium prices.he was lucky that the next few years the weather was good.governments never fund long term liabilities with much more than a promise to pay.a bad year will eventually come and the state budget problem will be monsterous but he will have moved on.he will then say that there was no problem on his watch.
clyde (e236fd) — 4/21/2010 @ 9:06 pmcrist to run as a RINO. Just what we need another mccain, maine twins or grahamnesty!
Screw crist and the horse he rode in on.
Jim (582155) — 4/21/2010 @ 10:12 pmSeems kind of fair for the GOP to have their Lieberman.
imdw (597e10) — 4/22/2010 @ 5:01 amA pseudo Tea Party man- just like Harry Reid.
FatBaldnSassy (9520fd) — 4/22/2010 @ 9:13 amTEA party people are not stupid. They know who is with them and who is lying. Christ just shot himself in the cajones by saying he was a TEA party candidate. He and the Donkeycrat will be crushed in the election.
imdw, stop huffing the WD-40.
PCD (1d8b6d) — 4/23/2010 @ 12:52 pm