It is all Charlie Crist all the time here on Riptide today, because, sigh, nothing else is going on.
Local 10's top politico Michael Putney took to The Herald today and proclaimed Charlie Crist reminds him of Chance the Gardener from the 1976 film Being There. Chance is a simple man, or as Putney puts it "mentally challenged," who stumbles into high society by being something of a likable enigma. The kind of guy you perceive in whichever way you choose.
Putney wonders if Christ, like Chance, is "a slightly ditzy, disconnected lightweight."
Which is true. He doesn't really have an ideological backbone. He's not a policy wonk, and his attempts to please the right wing while simultaneously seeming above party politics and work for the people is often maddening.
We'll see him walk that tight rope again, as he has yet another pick on the state supreme court coming up, possibly this week.
Much like the last time it's shaping up to be a battle between picking a qualified candidate for the sake of diversity, or picking a candidate who will appease the right wingers. That time around he ended up picking the diverse candidate, much to the chagrin of many Republican activists. Does he reach out the African-American community, or does he try and patch things up with his party's base?
Putney also cites some of Charlie's strenghts: "the strength of great political instincts, an appealing personality and a Clintonesque (Bill, not Hillary) talent for making you feel like you're the most important person in the room for however long you're with him."
With his upcoming Supreme Court pick we'll see who he has decided to make the most important person in the room this go around.
