Posted on Friday, 12.18.09

Suddenly in a slump, Crist seems a bit lost

BY BETH REINHARD

BREINHARD@MIAMIHERALD.COM

Gov. Charlie Crist walked alone into Friday’s meeting with The Miami Herald editorial board.

His security detail stayed outside the glass door. There were no staff members juggling Blackberries and briefing books at his side. Just Crist, sitting at a conference table in shirt sleeves and a tie, at perhaps the lowest point of his political career.

The interview came after another tough week.

Polls showed the former presumptive Republican nominee tied or just a notch ahead of former House Speaker Marco Rubio of Miami in the U.S. Senate race. Calls for his state party chief, Jim Greer, to resign reached a new peak. And the capper on Friday: Florida’s unemployment rate hit 11.5 percent.

Is Crist to blame? Are the polls right? It doesn’t matter. The perception is devastating. His aura of inevitability is gone, and the next thing to dry up could be his fundraising.

Friday’s meeting offered Crist a chance to step up.

But in a room full of policy wonks and devoid of his usual props (smiling schoolchildren, American flags, endangered sea creatures) Crist seemed lost.

He gave the requisite Republican homages to former Gov. Jeb Bush and former President Ronald Reagan. He claimed he hadn’t raised taxes when in fact the state’s budget includes $2.2 billion in new cigarette taxes and fees. He said he sees insurers as “suspect” and is “not a fan” of utility companies, even though he’s taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from these industries.

Overall, Crist muddled through more than an hour of questions with responses that were heavy on optimism, light on details. Some excerpts:

via Suddenly in a slump, Crist seems a bit lost – Columnists – MiamiHerald.com.

We’re talking about the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat….. we posted a Rasmussen poll that had them even at  earlier in the day…..

This one has them at Crist 45%….Rubio 36%……

Here’s the link…..

Although this is a  Zogby Poll (???)…I’m inclined to think Crist is ahead down there by a hair…..

My poll guy will contact me in afew hours ….I’m sure….we’ll update then……

Rasmussen Survey

Florida Senate 2010

General Election

Marco Rubio (R) 49 %
Kendrick Meek (D) 35 %
Others 4 %
Undecided 12 %

Charlie Crist (R) 42 %
Kendrick Meek (D) 36 %
Others 11 %
Undecided 11 %

This one is a surprise for me…..I would think that Kendrick Meek the leading democrat would do better against Marco Rubio at this time….but my alter-ego here at the Dog thinks Rubio is for real….I will argue that Meek should be able to close (carrying democrats, indie’s and moderate GOPer’s) if Rubio pulls out the nomination, since there should be problem with Rubio moving to the right of Crist (who lead this by miles a few months ago), who is a moderate republican….moderates are an endangered species these day’s huh?

Liberal Governor Crist Falling In Polls

Governor Charlie Crist thought he had the Republican nomination and the 2010 election in the bag.  He was sure that he would be Florida’s next Senator.  What happened?  The people of Florida are waking up to Crist’s very liberal views..continued…

Also join us at MomsAndDadsBeHeard a new forum for you to express your views and concerns. Be part of bringing our Great Christian country back.

Charlie Crist,  the Florida Governor has lost his entire lead to former state House speaker Marco Rubio…….

The newest poll has both tied at 43% each……

We have all watched as the moderate Crist began to lose his lead to the right leading Rubio…..Crist like others in both parties (a lot of democrats in GOP district’s are not running next year) is a victim of the GOP move to the right to regain voters after the Obama presidential win……

My hope is that Rubio’s ascension in the polls and right leanings, will help Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla) capture the senate seat in the general election……

I just finished the Kentucky-UConn heavyweight bout.

Wow.

Two years ago, I was watching videos on hoopmixtape.com to look at some Brandon Jennings videos to see what all the hype was about. I definitely came away impressed with the HS Jennings, but among all the videos and the posts there was one name that popped up: John Wall.

Look, I’m a Chicago guy and there was plenty of love watching Derrick Rose do it big in his freshman season in Memphis. Then there was Jennings who was another incredible point guard looking to make his mark with Arizona (this was before Italy). But I just could not believe that there was a third, amazing, young point guard from North Carolina. Just watching his game on hoopmixtape.com I became a believer that whoever picks this kid up would have a star.

That star shone brightly today.

John Wall in the first half against UConn

In perhaps the biggest game of his young season so far, UK freshman phenom John Wall put up 25 points and had 6 steals against No. 14 UConn. His performance was simply spectacular. Down the stretch of the 2nd half of a closely contested back and forth game, Wall had 12 of UK’s last 15 points. He came out of the gate blazing to lead UK to an early 12-0 run, but 2 fouls put him on the bench late in the first half. He also tallied 6 turnovers in the game. You think the young Wall would wilt, bend, and perhaps break under the pressure.

But no.

Think about this. You are playing under one of the biggest stages of basketball – the bright lights of Madison Square Garden – against the number 14th ranked UConn powerhouse. Your opponent guarding you is the respected Kemba Walker who is playing in his backyard of New York. Your team is down one point with about thirty-five seconds left. How much better of a script can it get?

For Wall, it was a storybook-ending performance. With already one gaming-winning shot in the bag this season, Wall quietly commanded the ball at the top of the key, blew by his defender, hit the tough layup…and one.

Clutch.

The kid has is all. Court vision. Great hands. Good shooting. Blazing speed. Incredible athleticism. And of course…Clutch. Forget Ricky Rubio, John Wall is the unquestionable number one pick in next year’s draft.

…and since the Bulls dropped another game, I can dream of a Derrick Rose-John Wall backcourt for next year.

posted by GeoT

“The candidate who purports to speak for populist rage in fact turns out to be the candidate of a national political leadership.”

by David Frum (CNN) — The Republican fratricide in the Nov. 3 special election in upstate New York may prove just an opening round of an even more spectacular bloodbath in Florida in 2010.

In New York, Republican feuding lost the party a seat in the House of Representatives. At stake in Florida is not only a senatorship — but very possibly Republican hopes for 2012 as well.

The battle in Florida pits Gov. Charlie Crist against former Speaker of the Florida House Marco Rubio. Both men claim to be conservative, pro-life, tax cutters. On the issues, they would seem to agree far more than they disagree.

But on one issue they have disagreed passionately: President Obama’s fiscal stimulus. Squeezed by his state’s desperate fiscal condition, Crist endorsed and campaigned for the Obama stimulus. Inspired by his conservative ideology, Rubio opposed stimulus.

Now Rubio is the darling of conservatives nationwide. Just this week it was announced that he would keynote next year’s annual CPAC conference in Washington. He has been profiled on the cover of National Review, endorsed by the Club for Growth, and feted by radio talk show hosts.

Marco Rubio has fiercely denounced Crist’s support for the Obama stimulus. His campaign ads show images of Crist and Obama side by side and damn the stimulus as “trillions in reckless spending” and a “terrible threat to a fragile economy.”

Rubio’s message of uncompromising, unremitting opposition to President Obama has won him an enthusiastic following among conservatives nationwide.

But here’s the most important unasked question raised by the enthusiasm for Rubio among Washington conservatives: What alternative policy should have been adopted back in the spring, when interest rates had been cut to almost zero and the economy was still collapsing? Are vague bromides about big government anything like an adequate response to the worst economic crisis experienced by any American under age 80?

If all we conservatives have to offer is oppositionism, then opposition is the job we’ll be assigned to fill.

Read more here:

Note: David Frum, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, was a special assistant to President George W. Bush in 2001-2002. He is the author of six books, including “Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again,” and the editor of FrumForum.com

Charlie Crist appears to have abysmal taste in friends. The Florida governor and Senate hopeful is hastily putting distance between himself and all the thieving jailbirds he used to accept money from before they came under federal indictment.

Scott Rothstein, who described himself as a “close friend and advisor to the governor” on his law firm biography, is the latest of three crooked Crist fundraisers to face federal charges. Rothstein’s office was raided by dozens of federal agents this week, who confiscated documents and computer files relating to a Ponzi scheme that could reach into the hundreds of millions. Mr. Rothstein raised $675,00 for Crist’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign and donated almost $80,000 during the first six weeks of Crist’s Senate campaign. While Crist insists the two aren’t close, they attended each other’s weddings last year and Crist appointed Rothstein to a state Judicial Nominating Commission. –Scott buddy, I never knew ye..

One of the other men causing Crist much internal angst and a lot of political favors is Alan Mendelsohn, a fundraiser who stole from four separate political action committees to buy a love nest for his mistress, an education for his kids, annnnnd a brand new luxury car to drop said kids off at school in before tooling over to the aforementioned love nest. Crist and Alan are so close he put Alan on his gubernatorial transition team in 2006, a coveted spot for aspiring political bootlick..heavyweights.

In February Jordanian businessman living in the Dominican Republic, Ala’a al-Ali, was arrested for making tens of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions to an odd trio of politicians, Guliani, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain, during the presidential primaries. He also donated to one gubernatorial campaign, that of our boy Charlie. Senator McCain returned $50,000 in dirty money, while the other recipients observed a deep and profound silence on the matter.

A close associate of Ali’s is wealthy defense contractor Harry Sargeant, a bundler recently forced out as Florida Republican Party finance chairman. Sargeant, a college buddy of Crist’s, bundled hefty sums for the governor, much of it from foreign donors in California who had never heard of Crist, and also bundled more than half a million dollars for McCain’s campaign. The man is embroiled in scandal but does not yet face any criminal charges.

All of these associations paint an ugly picture of corruption, cronyism, and one big, fat RINO who desperately needs a good wuppin’ at the polls. Why are the RNC and the NRSC backing this man?!

Rubio, Rubio, wherefore art thou Rubio?

Remember a few months ago when the main stream media declared the GOP to be dead? In need of a major revamp? Too conservative to be anything but a party of the south?

A moderate Republican whose candidacy for an upstate New York Congressional seat had set off a storm of opposition from national conservative leaders abruptly withdrew on Saturday, emboldening the party’s right at a time when the Republican Party is enmeshed in a debate over how to rebuild itself after last year’s losses.

Funny how fast things change. Now, the one boat you wouldn’t want to have your future depending upon would be little old “Hope & Change,” rocking severely and taking on water.

The candidate, Dede Scozzafava, said she was suspending her campaign in the face of collapsing support and evidence that she was heading for a loss in a three-way race on Tuesday involving a conservative candidate, Douglas Hoffman, and a Democrat, Bill Owens. Ms. Scozzafava had been under siege from conservative leaders because she supported gay rights and abortion rights and was considered too liberal on various fiscal issues.

Next week, a Republican will reclaim the the Governor’s seat in Virginia, and the GOP might take the special election for Governor in New Jersey. What’s even more intriguing, however, is seeing Dede Scozzafava, the Republican nominee in a strongly Republican district in upstate New York, being run out of the race.

The decision by Ms. Scozzafava to suspend her campaign marks a clear victory for conservatives in the party at a time when there has been a pitched battle among party leaders over whether Republicans needed to change their ideological appeal as part of an effort to recover from the losses of 2006 and 2008.

Ms. Scozzafava fit the model of candidate who had been advocated by such Republican leaders as Mr. Steele (Michael Steele, head of the national Republican Party) and Senator John Cornyn of Texas: A candidate whose views might not be in keeping with much of the national party, but were more reflective of the district they are trying to win.

The battle has landed right on the nerve of the debate over the future of the GOP – does the party fail because it’s too conservative, or because it has abandoned its conservative values in order to play the Democrat’s game? Scozzafava wasn’t just liberal – she even supported card check, a heinous attempt to dramatically strengthen unions just when the country is starting to get a real sense of the disastrous policy results created by the partnership between the Democrats and organized labor.

Ms. Scozzafava’s withdrawal leaves a clear two-way race between Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Owens. As such, the contest on Tuesday could offer a test of this debate Republican leaders are having: whether it needs to adjust itself ideologically to expand its appeal to places like New York.

While most mainstream Republicans endorsed Scozzafava, including Steele and Newt Gingrich, people like Sarah Palin and Fred Thompson came out for Hoffman. More notably, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, a likely presidential candidate next time around, endorsed Hoffman. Does this upheaval indicate some seismic shift taking place?

A similar primary is unfolding in Florida, where Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running for Senate, is facing a challenge from a conservative, Mark Rubio, the former Florida House speaker. Mr. Crist has come under fire from conservatives for, among other things, supporting Mr. Obama on his economic stimulus package.

Gallup reminded us last week that Americans self-identify as conservative over liberal by a two to one margin, so, on the surface, becoming a party of principles might make some sense. It may be that the anger in the country has to do with the discovery of Obama’s big government liberalism, but it also could be that it has nothing to do with ideology. What if voters are just sick of slippery politicians like the President?

Indeed, a Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll released last week found that trust in government is at a 12-year low, and half of all Americans now support the creation of a new political party.

Both parties ignore such sentiment at their peril in 2010 and perhaps into the 2012 presidential race.

In the case of the New Yorks 23rd district, the GOP can expect to win the seat with a conservative candidate so throwing Scozzafava out is more of a branding statement than it is a political risk. But the mainstream argument made by folks like Newt isn’t without merit:

“This makes life more complicated from the standpoint of this: if we get into a cycle where every-time one side loses they run a third party candidate, we’ll make Pelosi speaker for life and guarantee Obama’s reelection,” said Mr. Gingrich, who had endorsed Ms. Scozzafava.

I’m not sure there’s much you could do to assure another term for Obama, but hyperbole aside, Newt’s warning is one to be kept in the back of our minds, even as we ignore it.

The percentage of Americans who believe that government is trying to do too much stands at its highest level (57 percent) in many years. Trust in government is near all-time lows, and Americans believe that 50 cents of every federal tax dollar is wasted — the highest level ever.

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that unified Democratic government has sparked a conservative counter-mobilization.

The following is the text of the statement delivered by Bradley S. Rees at a press conference Thursday evening. For more specifics on the problems and solutions Bradley speaks of in this statement, please read the October TEA Party speech Bradley has posted.

Thursday night’s statement, in full, is below:

Thanks for coming out here to Bedford County tonight. I grew up not far down 460, over in Appomattox County, and my wife and I moved our little family out here just over 2 years ago.

The reason I called this press conference this evening is simple, but the details are not. I’ll keep this as brief as possible, then open it up for questions.

I have been running for the Republican nomination for the 5th District since December of ‘08, but officially only since this past June. During this time I have consistently referred to myself as a “reluctant Republican” and proudly taken on the mantle of the anti-establishment, grassroots candidate. I have been honored to speak at 5 tea parties, and have been invited to speak at several more that I simply could not attend.

It has been a distinct privilege to meet and converse with thousands of 5th District residents, and to have gained their trust, support, and, most of all, their friendship. I sincerely hope that, by the end of this statement, I will retain all of these sentiments from these great people.

But, during this campaign, I have also heard and seen many things within the Republican party establishment, both nationally and locally, that have been a cause for great concern and even, at times, indignation. I have witnessed things that are meant to be kept in the shadows, away from the ears and critical thinking abilities of the populace.

These things, especially how some of the best people I’ve met in this process are viewed by the higher-ups in the party, must be brought into the light of day, sooner rather than later, so that the battle for the soul of the Republican party can be waged, AND WON, before the next election cycle.

As a candidate, within the Republican party, it would be unbecoming for me to bring these hidden sentiments, this intentionally suppressed rift, to the surface. Suffice to say, there are people in this party whose sole concern is political power, all at the expense of core principles.

There are many, both at the national, state, and local levels, whose power-lust and win-at-all-costs mentalities have infected the Republican party like a grotesque and malignant cancer.
They must be rooted out, not to destroy the party, but to reclaim and rebuild it, on the foundation of the core principles it has historically stood on, and that so many of the party elites have so long ignored, and now completely walked away from.

We have seen some of what I’m referring to come into a national spotlight lately. In Florida, moderate Governor Charlie Crist is running for the Senate seat vacated by Mel Martinez, and currently held by one of his own former chief advisors that he appointed. Former Speaker of the Florida House, and a true conservative, Marco Rubio is running for the Republican nomination for the same seat.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has stepped into the primary process (which is not their place, by the way) on behalf of Crist, who fully supports the failed Economic Stimulus from this past February. This is nothing short of arrogance on the part of Republicans at the national level, attempting to dictate to local party members who their nominee should be. And many on the local level are more than happy to go along with these dictates from above.

In New Jersey, there was a primary for the Republican nomination for governor. Chris Christie, an establishment Republican and career politician, beat out the much more conservative Steve Lonegan for the nomination, again with the help of national party members and the Republican National Committee.

Now, a few days away from the election, it appears that Christie will lose, and one of the most corrupt politicians since Richard J. Daley, John Corzine, will retain his residency in the governor’s mansion. The Independent candidate, Chris Daggett, who is more conservative than Christie on many issues, has been surging in the latest polls, and actually has broken out of the ranks of “spoiler” and into the realm of legitimate contender. You can bet that the party establishment is not happy about this turn of events.

And, most recently, the special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional District has gained a national spotlight. Career politician and blatant liberal Dede Scozzafava was handed the GOP nod, while Doug Hoffman, a businessman and political outsider, was completely overlooked. Hoffman is now running on the platform of the Conservative Party of New York, and has an excellent chance of winning, over both the Republican and Democrat candidates. In fact, the most recent polls I have seen show him opening up a lead over both the liberal and liberal-lite candidates.

Even with the support of money and influence from the RNC, Newt Gingrich, and the National Republican Congressional Committee, Scozzafava’s ties to the AFL-CIO, ACORN, SEIU, and her support for Card Check and the failed stimulus plan have all exposed her as the liberal-lite politician she truly is. The American people, in these 3 races, are proving that they are tired of the same old party insiders and their political games which routinely foist upon us the “lesser of two evils.”

In the cases of Rubio, Daggett, and Hoffman, the people are being given a true choice, not just what the major parties have attempted to shove down their throats.

And that leads me back to this race, right here in Virginia’s 5th District. Out of 7 declared candidates so far for the Republican nomination, only one has even drawn a comment from the National Republican Congressional Committee, and they sounded very pleased that this person had entered the race. With the track record they have in other races around the country, my question is this: why should we trust THEIR judgment here, in OUR nominating process?

The answer is, quite clearly, We shouldn’t. And so, as in these other races I’ve highlighted, the people deserve a clear choice. I am here tonight to also deliver a message to the 5th District Republican leadership: If you let the powerful D.C. and local party elite dictate the outcome of our nominating process here in the Fighting Fifth, and that nominee is not a principled conservative that we can trust to maintain spinal integrity in Washington, you can count on next year’s general election being identical to this year’s New York 23 and New Jersey Gubernatorial races.

I had hoped the GOP establishment would have learned a lesson in November of 2006. They didn’t. But they had another chance to learn a valuable lesson from a horrible mistake last November, both on the national level AND here in the 5th. The American people are growing weary with career politicians. Here in the 5th, they voted for a fresh face, a political outsider that everyone in the GOP refused to take seriously. Gee, that sounds familiar. I think I resemble that remark!

The point is: They STILL don’t get it. And I fear they won’t wake up before next Spring when they choose their nominees for 2010.

As such, it is my duty to announce that, as of today, I am withdrawing from consideration for the Republican nomination, so that I can devote my time, via my blog and my upcoming radio show, to exposing some of the charlatans and even outright liars who have corrupted the party I would have been proud to represent.

Starting in January, I intend to begin laying the groundwork and getting my support structure in place to run on the Virginia Conservative Party platform. It may amount to only drawing enough votes from the Republican candidate to ensure Tom Perriello a second term. If so, so be it. Maybe then, the party will understand that we are trying to save the GOP from its worst enemy: not the Democrats, but themselves.

I do not plan to do this on a whim, only to be a spoiler, but to give the people a chance to make their voices heard. Those voices will, I fear, be denied at next Spring’s convention, due to deals made in smoky back rooms in the 5th district.

The current acronym for people like Crist, Christie, and Scozzafava, is RINO. Republican In Name Only. That’s why I chose this spot for my press conference tonight. Because, whether the RINO is big or small, it’s still a RINO.

Going on Safari: Rees Hunting RINOs

Now, as far as I’m concerned, Tom Perriello is a man of principle. He says what he means, and votes that way. I completely disagree with his principles, but I respect him for standing on them. A RINO, on the other hand, cannot be trusted. They will say one thing, when they are at home in the district, then vote the completely opposite way while in the Capitol, dancing with the devil. As Joaquin Phoenix said in the movie 8MM, “When you dance with the devil, the devil don’t change; the devil changes you.”

When you boil everything down, Ronald Reagan was absolutely right when he said that we need to shun the muted pastels and instead embrace bold colors, to clearly delineate the differences in principle between ourselves and the opposing party. This, he said, would revitalize the Republican party, and so it did. I think it would behoove us to once again heed the Gipper’s advice.

My campaign’s main slogan has been, Stand on Principle, or Stand Aside! I think Reagan would agree. And, until recently, when he endorsed Scozzafava, I thought Newt Gingrich would agree, as well. But perhaps Newt danced with the devil a bit too long, as well.

In closing, I started out this campaign with one goal in mind: to prove to the people of the 5th District what they should have learned last November: that it doesn’t take a career politician, a lawyer, or someone with a big-name pedigree to engage the principles and capture the imaginations of the voters. Instead, it takes a firm commitment to principles, against all odds. I never anticipated the level of support I have received over the past 10 months, and I am truly grateful for that.

But my original goal has been achieved. Because of my candidacy, 3 others have joined the race, and they are not politicians, or lawyers, or well-known. But what they ARE means more than all those combined: they are principled conservatives whose love for this country outweighs any party affiliation or loyalty to the elites in the power structure. They are all hard-working family men, and political outsiders. I will be watching their campaigns closely, talking with each of them frequently, and I fully intend to endorse one of them in the coming months, hoping the party will take heed and finally begin to stand on principles.

Thanks for your time, and I’ll open this up to any questions you may have.

Might explain all those commercials that say Crist is a true Conservative, when people know the truth — RINO at best.