Some of the county-level Repulican party organizations have been mumbling not-so-nice things about Gov. Charlie Crist, but yesterday the Volusia County GOP passed a motion censuring him.
Among Crist's crimes: Appointing Democrats to political positions, appointing so-called liberal judge James Perry to the state Supreme Court, supporting the stimulus bill, nationalization of property insurance (what?), supporting amnesty legislation, and not doing enough to support certain Republican candidates for Congress.
Basically, in their eyes, the Republican gov is nothing but a giant bleeding-heart liberal.
Volusia County is home to Daytona Beach, with a population hovering around half a million. Politically, the county split for Kerry in '04 and Obama in '08, and in the last Senate race, Democrat Betty Castor in '04. All by small but comfortable margins.
But in 2006, Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson took 63 percent of the vote. That same year, though, Crist beat his Democratic competitor for governor. Meaning Crist gave Volusia County Republicans a rare, recent countywide win in a major statewide race. For whatever that's worth, which to the Volusia county GOP is apparently little.