Republicans are hoping that Democrats fall for that Charlie Crist trap.
Fear of Marco Rubio winning has clouded the thinking of some usually clear-thinking Democratic friends of mine. Heck, it's easy to fall prey to a smooth-talker like Charlie Crist. He's so "charming" when he's in full campaign mode. He always sounds so nice and well-spoken in his professional television ads. Charlie is like smooth jazz. Charlie Crist is "Mr. Smooth Jazz."
I admit to having felt this same fear earlier this summer. I can't stand the thought of our State being represented by Marco Rubio for the next 6 years (or the next 30 years). And so I, too, was ambivalent, for awhile, about whether I might vote for Charlie Crist because I wanted "anybody but Marco" to win, and I was having my thinking clouded by fear. No more. The smoke of the jazz lounge has cleared.
I have been watching Charlie Crist for a long time, and after listening to his smooth, jazzy delivery, and his latest "new releases" I've come to several realizations.
First, Charlie Crist cannot beat Marco Rubio. Charlie's popularity has peaked and is on the downward slide.
Charlie will not receive enough Democratic votes to win, and he does not have enough support from moderate Republicans and independents, either. If he's lucky, Charlie will end up garnering somewhere around 25% of the vote--and that's only if he keeps the support of the Democrats who have been thinking about voting for him. If those Democrats come to the realization that Charlie cannot win, they will abandon him, and if so, Charlie may only receive 15% of the vote.
While Charlie now likes to tout being "an Independent" (since April when he fell so far behind in the GOP race that he had no other personal option), he also recognizes that he has no Get Out The Vote (GOTV) organization behind him. He has no core constituency.
Winning elections requires mobilizing voters to get out and vote. Charlie will never win because he has NO GOTV organization. He not only has no GOTV organization of his own, he has the GOP's Get Out the Vote organization working as much against Crist as they are working against Kendrick Meek. That is a death knell for Charlie. Game over, Charlie.
Charlie is radioactive among most loyal Republicans, and they are energized to vote for Rubio and are exerting a strong amount of peer pressure among fellow Republicans to vote against Crist. He will garner very little GOP vote.
With Crist's star burning out, Democrats are realizing that in order to defeat Rubio, they must vote for Kendrick Meek. He is the only candidate that all Democrats can get behind. And, Democrats are realizing that if they ALL vote for Meek, he can win. Democrats know the importance of this race and are examining Meek's stances on the issues. Kendrick Meek is the only real Democrat in the race. Meek has the core support of the Democratic party and its Get Out The Vote effort. Those core Democrats are never going to vote for Charlie Crist, which is another major reason why Crist's ad-hoc candidacy is doomed.
Nearly a year ago, I wrote an article about Charlie Crist that I just "re-published." I wrote about how Charlie loves to run for office--how he's always running for something--how he loves to raise money to run for office--and how he's always looking ahead to the next office. I complained that it was too bad that Charlie didn't like to run the state of Florida, and I listed numerous examples of things that he had not done as Governor. I noted that he had really been a poor Governor up to that point, and I mentioned how disappointing it was that he had basically quit being Governor 2 years into his term to devote the majority of his time to running for U.S. Senate. I said a year ago that Charlie Crist's performance as Governor had not warranted a promotion to Senator.
That's why I cannot vote for Charlie Crist. He isn't worthy of my vote. I don't know who he is or what he stands for from one moment to the next.
I don't believe that Charlie will "become a Democrat" after the election as I have heard some Democrats say.
Charlie will not say which party he will caucus with in the Senate.
I know which party Kendrick Meek will caucus with in the Senate. I don't have to guess.
If you are a Democrat thinking of voting for Crist and he somehow miraculously wins and then chooses to caucus with the Republicans, how will you feel, then? (It would be like having Ben Nelson or Joe Liberman as your Senator--neither is a Democrat and neither has helped with any progressive issues. In fact, both have been obstructionists.) Kendrick Meek will not be an obstructionist on Democratic issues.
Charlie says he's going to caucus "with the People." Sorry, Charlie, the U.S. Senate doesn't work that way. Hand me a barf bag.
Many Democrats who are considering voting for Charlie have been seduced by his recent vetoes or his recent policy announcements. They think they know Charlie because of his vetoes in the last legislative session. I submit they are being played by Mr. Smooth Jazz.
If Charlie had been leading Rubio in the polls in May and June, he would have never vetoed Senate Bill 6 or the ultra sound bill (for fear of having the GOP leadership turn on him when he needed their support). Come on teachers, you are smarter than that!
Remember when Charlie ran for Governor just 4 short years ago and bragged about being "a Jeb Bush Republican?"
I will never hear those words--"I'm a Jeb Bush Republican" out of Kendrick Meek's mouth. Kendrick Meek led protests and sit-in's at the Capital over some of Jeb Bush's policies.
Remember in 2008 when Charlie endorsed John McCain (and was a finalist to be his running mate)? Remember when he was Chain Gang Charlie? He was as GOP as possible then. I don't think he's changed. I think he's acting. I think he's playing smooth jazz, because he thinks its what Democrats want to hear.
I prefer classic rock. I don't like re-mixes or bad cover songs.
And let's not forget Charlie's deplorable (and many say hypocritical) anti-civil rights record on Gay Lesbian Bi-Sexual and Transgender (GLBT) issues. Do you remember how Charlie was extremely vocal in the 2008 campaign asking Floridians to Vote "Yes" on Amendment 2 to ban gay marriage in Florida? And, throughout his term as Governor--until last week-- he has whole-heartedly supported the ban on gay adoptions, keeping Florida the only state in the nation that bans gay adoptions. Only recently has Charlie announced "new policy positions" on GLBT issues--solely for the purpose of trying to convert core Democrats to believe that he has "changed" now that he is an independent.
Was he for those New Positions when he was a Jeb Bush Republican? Will he be for them if he chooses to caucus with the Republicans? Will he be for them on November 3rd?
Charlie was once firmly aligned with and wanted very badly to be John McCain's Vice Presidential nominee of the Party who chanted "Drill Baby Drill" at their national convention. Now he says he isn't in favor of offshore drilling.
I could go on and on with things that are either inconsistent, hypocritical positions that Charlie has espoused, or I could cite other examples of bills that he hasn't vetoed that were equally as bad as the ones he chose to veto this year only when it was politically expedient for him to veto them.
The bottom line is that I cannot vote for Charlie Crist and I will not be part of the reason why Kendrick Meek can't win.
In fact, if all Democrats vote for Kendrick Meek, he will win. There are more registered Democrats in the state of Florida.
Don't fall into that trap.
