Cat and Mouse Games
Charlie Crist, Florida 8:49 AM
by Nick Stone of Drawnlines Politics.
Bucking your party is one thing. Being a "maverick" yet another. But selling Floridians down river in a desperate attempt to save your political hide is as reckless as it is transparent. After vetoing an education reform bill recently, now Charlie Crist is further testing our patience by reversing (yet again) his stance on oil drilling off Florida's coast.
After reversing his position during peak oil prices in 2008, Charlie Crist supported John McCain's election bid by coordinating a monumental flip flop with the campaign by embracing the obvious need for more domestic drilling of oil. The McCain campaign and the Crist camp received little flak for the change of heart because Floridians, like all other Americans, were being squeezed tremendously at the pump. This week however, Crist has come home to his original stance against drilling near Florida due to a recent leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Charlie seemingly has abandoned conservative ideology altogether.
This week, the Florida Education Association (read: "teachers' union") came out with not one, but two commercials thanking Governor Crist for vetoing education reform in Florida. They say in their ad, "Thanks Governor Crist for making Florida a great place to work and learn." But stopping the reform bill did neither of those things. Blocking SB 6 derailed Florida's monumental gains in learning achievement while at the same time hosing teachers out of incentive pay for extraordinary achievement. It slashed hopes that great teachers ever have of being rewarded for their efforts, and promises mediocre teachers a lifelong job. Gee, what a deal!
The unions, which admittedly owe Crist bigtime for committing career suicide to help them, have taken the ultimate quid pro quo upon themselves by touting his Benedict Arnold status in front of his party and the children he recently hung out to dry. Crist, trailing badly in the Republican primary, has shown great strength in three-way polls where he would run as a hypothetical independent against Republican Rubio and Democrat Meek.
But as Crist nears a decision on running as an independent, his long time supporters find ourselves in a quandry. Partisan loyalists find Crist's recent leaps toward the Left both unnerving and disrespectful toward his close allies. But personal slights aside, one cannot help but wonder what good Charlie thinks he's doing himself by taking his campaign on this rollercoaster. While trying to appeal to everybody at once, Crist has managed to alienate nearly everyone at once. The saying "a mile wide and an inch deep" comes to mind.
Next, will Charlie be accepting the endorsement of the Sierra Club? If he wants to remain a Republican, he'd better watch himself. I'd still like to vote for him.
There's ALWAYS something new happening at Drawnlines Politics. For videos and archives visit our homepage Check out our new Election Center!
Bucking your party is one thing. Being a "maverick" yet another. But selling Floridians down river in a desperate attempt to save your political hide is as reckless as it is transparent. After vetoing an education reform bill recently, now Charlie Crist is further testing our patience by reversing (yet again) his stance on oil drilling off Florida's coast.
After reversing his position during peak oil prices in 2008, Charlie Crist supported John McCain's election bid by coordinating a monumental flip flop with the campaign by embracing the obvious need for more domestic drilling of oil. The McCain campaign and the Crist camp received little flak for the change of heart because Floridians, like all other Americans, were being squeezed tremendously at the pump. This week however, Crist has come home to his original stance against drilling near Florida due to a recent leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Charlie seemingly has abandoned conservative ideology altogether.
This week, the Florida Education Association (read: "teachers' union") came out with not one, but two commercials thanking Governor Crist for vetoing education reform in Florida. They say in their ad, "Thanks Governor Crist for making Florida a great place to work and learn." But stopping the reform bill did neither of those things. Blocking SB 6 derailed Florida's monumental gains in learning achievement while at the same time hosing teachers out of incentive pay for extraordinary achievement. It slashed hopes that great teachers ever have of being rewarded for their efforts, and promises mediocre teachers a lifelong job. Gee, what a deal!
The unions, which admittedly owe Crist bigtime for committing career suicide to help them, have taken the ultimate quid pro quo upon themselves by touting his Benedict Arnold status in front of his party and the children he recently hung out to dry. Crist, trailing badly in the Republican primary, has shown great strength in three-way polls where he would run as a hypothetical independent against Republican Rubio and Democrat Meek.
But as Crist nears a decision on running as an independent, his long time supporters find ourselves in a quandry. Partisan loyalists find Crist's recent leaps toward the Left both unnerving and disrespectful toward his close allies. But personal slights aside, one cannot help but wonder what good Charlie thinks he's doing himself by taking his campaign on this rollercoaster. While trying to appeal to everybody at once, Crist has managed to alienate nearly everyone at once. The saying "a mile wide and an inch deep" comes to mind.
Next, will Charlie be accepting the endorsement of the Sierra Club? If he wants to remain a Republican, he'd better watch himself. I'd still like to vote for him.
There's ALWAYS something new happening at Drawnlines Politics. For videos and archives visit our homepage Check out our new Election Center!
Posted by Nick Stone
on 8:49 AM.
Filed under
Charlie Crist,
Florida
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