Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Crist Acknowledges Independent Run Rumors

Here is a bit from a Max Fischer article from The Atlantic Wire:
Republican Governor Charlie Crist of Florida looks likely to drop his bid for the Republican Senate nomination, owing to increasingly strong opposition from conservative challenger Marco Rubio. But rumors are swirling that he could run as a third-party candidate. Crist told a local TV station he was keeping his options open and insisted to National Review that he is staying in the race. Would Crist have a shot as the independent candidate?
My opinion - Crist should run as an independent. My belief is that Crist's moderate style as governor is beneficial for this state, and while I do not agree with his more then right stances on repealing the health care reform, seeing exactly who supports Rubio, I fear that Rubio will ignore the other percentage of voters who would not vote for him. The unfortunate thing about this race is that it is apparently dominated by Rubio and Crist, with virtually no news being released about Democratic challenger Kendrick Meek, so given that the race looks as if the conservative candidate will win, I think Crist is the better candidate, but because of the press and backing Rubio is getting these days, and the fact that Crist had done some things found to be questionable by his own party, such as accept stimulus funds or his recent veto of the GOP backed merit pay bill, Crist will have a tough time winning the Republican primary.

Consider this statement made by House Minority Leader Eric Cantor, found on The Huffington Post, in which Cantor throws his support behind Rubio:
"He embraced the stimulus bill, which I think, pretty much, there is close to unanimity that that bill fell short in terms of accomplishing [its] goals," Cantor said. The congressman then pivoted to a veto Crist made of an education bill that would have eliminated tenure for new teachers and linked salaries to student progress.

"How is it that he could have done that?" Cantor asked. "[Y]ou have to wonder what Charlie Crist stands for at that point. And what people are looking for in leaders right now is a genuineness, a sense of purpose and a commitment to principles. That's why I decided to endorse Marco Rubio."
Like I had predicted before, Crist's veto is already becoming political fodder, but as Cantor's comments point out, it is the Republican's belief to vote with the party and not for the people.

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