Every once in a while, Gov. Charlie Crist remembers he is indeed a member of the Republican Party and not the sole member of the Crist Populist Party of Florida. As a Republican, he must occasionally take a swipe at the Democratic leadership. He decided to do so while pulling keynote speaker duties at the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference this weekend. From CNN:
"I think the people wanted a change," the Florida Republican said, speaking of the election of Obama in November while drawing similarities to events decades earlier.Crist appeared with Obama at a stimulus rally earlier this year, briefly enjoying a hug. A photo of that embrace has become a key part of conservative Marco Rubio's primary campaign against Crist for Senate.
"They wanted a change back in 1976. You remember? Richard Nixon had been president. That ended. Gerald Ford took over. The people decided they wanted a change. They got one -- Jimmy Carter. Four years later, they took care of business -- Ronald Reagan."
"It may happen again," Crist went on. "I believe that the people have seen that they wanted a change but not this much. Not this kind, and not this way. America is awake and we're coming back."
Crist, who's now running for U.S. Senate, said Republicans feel a winning streak coming on for the next few years, "so bad they can taste it," he said. "Especially after the seven or eight or nine months that we've had of this new administration."
The conservative pressure of Crist was amped up this weekend, when Goerge Will wrote a pro-Rubio column Sunday in the Washingtoin Post.
In January 2011, one Floridian will leave for the U.S. Senate. He is unlikely to be a former governor at odds with his party's nominating electorate, or the probable Democratic nominee, Kendrick Meek, a hyper-liberal congressman. Rubio intends to prove that "in the most important swing state, you can run successfully as a principled conservative." He probably will.Meanwhile, "hyper-liberal" Kendrick Meek (really? To qualify as "hyper-liberal," you have to go through at least ten onces of liberal sugar a day, and we all know Meek sticks to that liberal Splenda) decided to take Crist's words to mean he's secretly planning a 2012 race for the White House.
"During an elite right-wing confab in Michigan, the Governor predicted a 'Carter-esque loss for Obama' in 2012. He's just another Republican hoping Obama fails and lining up to run for president," writes the Democratic congressman from Miami.
"Governor Crist is using our Senate race to jumpstart his 2012 run. Florida needs someone to deliver stimulus money and jobs and to stop health insurance price gouging. I'm running to be that senator, but I need your help. We're only 100 donors away from our quarterly goal. Can I count on you to invest $5 or more before midnight Wednesday?"
