Free Republic

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Charlie Crist has appointed Lakeland Judge Charles Canady to replace retiring Justice Raoul Cantero on the Florida Supreme Court, bringing the number of Hispanic justices back to zero. Canady, 54, sits on the 2nd District Court of Appeal, where he was appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush in 2002. A former Republican congressman, Canady was one of the floor managers in President Bill Clinton's impeachment attempt in 1999. The graduate of Yale Law School served in the Florida House between 1984 through 1990 as a Democrat. He changed his registration when he ran for Congress in 1992. ''He's...

This can be a deciding factor in a close election, and it looks as if the election will be a very close horse race. Most voters know that Joe Lieberman and Tom Ridge are pro-aborts, but they might not know about Florida's Gov. Charlie Crist. He is sneaky, calls himself pro-life, but is not. Awhile back the Florida House approved a bill to give women the option to see an ultrasound before having an abortion. I heard Laura Ingraham say that Gov. Charlie Crist did not support this in the past, but he might support it now, because he wants...

I also realize that the greatest advances in the human condition came about when the energy contained in fossil fuels, especially petroleum, was harnessed. Until then the vast majority of human beings lived short lives of drudgery, poverty and despair – in contrast to the very few members of royalty or the society of the very rich. Perhaps younger generations who were born to 75 year old lifetimes and great abundance cannot fathom what life could have been like for most of the billions of people who were born and lived prior to the 20th century.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida Gov. Charlie Crist won't be sleeping alone in the governor's mansion much longer -- he is engaged (video: MyFoxOrlando) to a woman he met in New York City last September who quickly captured his heart. Crist, 51, asked Carole Rome to marry him Thursday morning at his St. Petersburg apartment, giving her a blue sapphire ring surrounded by diamonds. She immediately said yes. "I'm very happy and couldn't be more pleased. What a great way to celebrate America's birthday," said Crist, who has been mentioned as a potential running mate for Republican presidential candidate John McCain....

ST. PETERSBURG - Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is engaged to a woman he met last September during a trip to New York, according to a published report Thursday evening. Crist asked Carole Rome, his girlfriend of nine months, to marry him on Thursday at his St. Petersburg apartment, the St. Petersburg Times reported on its Web site. Crist says she said yes without hesitation.

Last week’s legal victory for Seminole Electric over state regulators was a slam dunk, a review of the unanimous Fifth District Court of Appeals decision shows. The judges said Friday that the denial by Michael Sole, the state Department of Environmental Protection secretary, of a permit to expand the Palatka coal-fired power plant was unfounded. And the court ordered Sole to issue the permit, called a site certification. “Despite lengthy factual discussion preceding our analysis, the resolution of this case is quite simple,” the court’s ruling says. “In short, the (DEP) secretary had no legal basis to deny certification of...

Gov. Crist cannot be trusted on pro-life issues. For instance, awhile back I heard Laura Ingraham say that FL was going to have some kind of law about showing pregnant women ultrasounds, and other information. Laura said that Gov. Crist did NOT support this in the past, but he might support it now because he wants to be the VP running mate. ALSO: "Crist initially drew the ire of pro-life advocates when he voted against a 24 hour waiting period for abortions when he was a stat Senator. That action and his reluctance to take a clear pro-life stance in...

LAUREN RICHARDSON - YOU CAN HELP!By Judie BrownIt has been a source of ongoing sadness to read of the difficulties Lauren Richardson’s father has had over the course of the past several months. For those of you who are not familiar with her case, Lauren overdosed on heroin on August 28, 2006. She suffered oxygen deprivation and, as a result of the overdose, is now in a coma and unable to speak out for herself. At the time of the overdose, Lauren was expecting a baby. Her parents honored what they knew would have been her wish and did all they could to...

I heard on tv that Gov. Bobby Jindal, Mitt Romney, Gov. Charlie Crist, Rob Portman, Senator Sam Brownback, Senator Joe Lieberman were invited to Senator McCain's ranch, and some (or all) are potential running mates. So I'm doing some research on them, and would like to hear what other FReepers think about these people. Of course, it's not a "done deal" that any of these will be the running mate, and it could be someone entirely different. I also like Sen. John Thune, Governor Palin, J.C. Watts, Michael Steele and a few others.

(NOTE: This is a repost of an article that was recently posted here by another forum member. I had it pulled for copyright infringement. I am the true author of the article [I wrote it on my political blog] and am reposting it here because it seems there are many people who are interested in discussing this. Please do not steal other people's intellectual property.) ------- Ever since John McCain effectively clinched the Republican nomination back in February, he has had trouble staying in the headlines and getting media attention. After all, the chess match between Barack Obama and Hillary...

Charlie Crist, Bobby Jindal and Mitt Romney better hope John McCain isn't banking on Tony Blankley for guidance on his Veep pick. Newt's former press secretary is blah—at best—on all three. Blankley, also the former editorial page editor of the Washington Times and who continues to write a column there, made his remarks on MSNBC's "Race for the White House" this evening as part of a panel reacting to the news that McCain has invited the three governors—past and present—to meet with him over the Memorial Day weekend. ON CRIST DAVID GREGORY: What would Governor Crist bring to McCain's ticket?...

The Talk Shows Sunday, May 18th, 2008 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn.; Rick Dutrow Jr., trainer of Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.; former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark.; Republican strategist Mike Murphy; Democratic strategist Bob Shrum. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Gov. Charlie Crist, R-Fla.; Republican strategist Ed Rollins; former Govs. Mario Cuomo, D-N.Y., and Roy Romer, D-Colo.THIS WEEK (ABC): Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Commerce Secretary Carlos...

Gov. Charlie Crist suggested this morning that a temporary cut in the state’s share of the tax on gasoline would be a welcome respite for Floridians. Crist’s buddy, GOP presidential candidate John McCain,, had suggested a similar cut on Tuesday. Crist was speaking with Radio Caracol, a Spanish-language station in south Florida. “I think with the high price of gas, it might be a way we can alleviate some financial difficulties for our fellow Floridians,” Crist said in a radio interview in the Capitol on a day celebrating Colombians’ contributions in the state. “It’s ridiculous to me what’s being charged...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Gov. Charlie Crist is extinguishing health care advocates' hopes for a dollar increase in the cigarette tax. A measure in the Legislature would boost the tax on a pack of smokes from 34 cents to $1.34, and was scheduled for a hearing Tuesday in the Senate Health Policy Committee. But asked earlier Tuesday whether he supported such an increase, Crist said simply, "No." Crist's Republican colleagues in the House aren't very supportive of the idea either, opposing tax increases of any kind even in the face of one of the deepest budget shortfalls in recent years. Increasing...

The McCain people have been floating the name of Governor Crist of Florida as a potential vice presidential candidate. I realize, of course, that publishing the names of several people in this way is a time-honored practice that gives them publicity and gains the support of people who have no chance of ending up as the vice presidential candidate. As a conservative Republican, I have had to swallow hard to embrace Senator McCain for president, but at least I have always felt that his views, including some that were badly mistaken, were honestly held.

Cannot Post due to copyright issues: http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2008/03/17/080317taco_talk_hertzberg

The rumors about Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and the Green Iguana just wouldn't go away. The story goes that the Florida governor frequented the Green Iguana, a bar in Tampa, back in the early 1990s when he was just starting his political career. He was less careful back then, people say, and during his partying at the Green Iguana, he was openly gay. When I got Rick Calderoni, the bar's well-known owner, on the phone, I expected him to stonewall me about it. He didn't. Calderoni, who is gay, confirmed that Crist came into his bar quite often and that...

The Limbaugh strategy in action: The longer and bloodier the Democratic primary, the better it is for the GOP, which is why now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of Her Majesty. Witness, then, the spectacle of a Republican governor — touted as a running mate for McCain, no less — making the case not only for the state’s delegates to be seated by the DNC but for it to happen without the re-vote that’s increasingly expected to occur if Hillary pulls the upset tomorrow and starts pounding the table about Florida and Michigan....

Yes, yes, yes, it's much too early to start thinking about running mates. Too bad. People are doing it anyway. And even though they won't admit it, odds are that Sens. John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are giving it at least some thought. So, too, are people who turn up their noses at the suggestion they might be a good fit, yet secretly harbor ambitions of getting the nod. Veepstakes speculation - always an undercurrent with a presidential election afoot - intensified this past week after Mitt Romney dropped out of the race, helping to clear McCain's...

As John McCain consolidates his Super Tuesday wins to nail down the nomination, he can thank his big-name endorsers over the past week: Rudy Giuliani. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Texas Governor Rick Perry. Steve Forbes. And then he can give Florida Governor Charlie Crist a lifetime, unlimited mileage pass on the Straight Talk Express, or maybe even a copy of that prized donor list that he had to use as collateral last year to keep his campaign afloat. It's strange how quickly Crist's last minute endorsement has faded into history. Perhaps it was the exit polling--only 42 percent of Republicans said that...

It is often said that the best way to find out how a candidate would act in office if elected, is to see who he/she surrounds himself with. Money is another factor, what people and industries are backing the candidate. These answers should be an indicator of what to expect. Who is behind the man should gauge what kind of man he is. The great Richard Viguerie tells the story of how he and other conservatives had a “seat at the table” of the presidential campaigns of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan for. His thinking was if Conservatives aren’t at...

Less then a week after saying he has heard the American people regarding illegal immigration and their opposition to the McCain-Kennedy Pro-Amnesty bill, John McCain would still SIGN THE BILL into law if he was President and it came across his desk: (VIDEO) This explains his receiving the endorsement of fellow Pro-Amnestians, Senator Mel Martinez, (who almost single-handedly bankrupted the RNC with his support of the bill), the NY Times, Florida Governor Charlie Crist and of the Mexico-first pro-amnesty open borders advocate Dr. Juan Hernandez. “My friends", let me give you some “straight talk", a vote for John McCain is...

Charlie Crist...a man who spent the last year hanging out with Rudy Guiliani...endorses John McCain for President of The United States. Breaking...

Citing uncertainty surrounding future greenhouse gas rules in the U.S., a consortium of power companies on Wednesday canceled plans to build an advanced coal-burning power plant near Orlando, Fla. The announcement is the latest in a string of aborted attempts to build an advanced coal plant that uses so-called integrated gasification and combined cycle, or IGCC, technology, which transforms coal into a synthetic gas before running it through generation turbines. The process allows carbon dioxide, the main global warming gas, to be captured before it's released into the atmosphere. Executive orders signed by Florida's Republican Gov. Charlie Crist earlier this...

For the past two years, analysts have been asking how fast-growing WellCare Health Plans of Tampa has been able to make so much money running government health plans for the poor and elderly. Now government investigators may be asking the same thing. On a rainy Wednesday morning, more than 200 federal and state agents swarmed WellCare's campus on Henderson Road in Tampa, forcing employees onto the sidewalk and into their cars. Steven Meitzen, 51, who arrived at WellCare about 9:40 a.m. for a job interview, said he was initially told it was a bomb scare. "Later on, I talked to...

During his first visit to FL on 9/18 a.m., Fred Thompson began his courtship of popular GOP Gov. Charlie Crist's with some kinds words. "I just told my staff I wanted to meet the most popular governor in the country and this is where they brought me," Thompson said to a small gathering of reporters following a brief meeting with Crist in Tallahassee. When asked how important FL was to his WH plan, Thompson said, "Florida's extremely important in terms of this next election. Quite frankly it's extremely important as far as its primary is concerned, so strictly from a...

Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday signed his first death warrant since taking office in January, ending a temporary halt on lethal injections that was imposed because of a botched execution last year. Mark Dean Schwab, 38, is scheduled to be executed Nov. 15, Crist said. Schwab was sentenced to death in 1992 for the kidnapping, rape and murder of 11-year-old Junny Rios-Martinez of Cocoa. He targeted the boy after seeing his picture in a newspaper. In December, then-Gov. Jeb Bush suspended all Florida executions after a medical examiner said that prison officials botched the insertion of the needles when convicted...

Gov. Charlie Crist is preparing to sign a plan enacting tough, California-style car-emissions rules. BY MARY ELLEN KLAS meklas@MiamiHerald.com Florida will adopt California's car-pollution standards -- the toughest in the nation -- and become the first state in the Southeast to enact targets for reducing greenhouse gases, under executive orders Gov. Charlie Crist plans to sign Friday in Miami. PABLO MARTINEZ/AP PHOTO Florida will adopt California's car-pollution standards -- the toughest in the nation -- and become the first state in the Southeast to enact targets for reducing greenhouse gases, under executive orders Gov. Charlie Crist plans to sign Friday...

The state has automatically restored voting rights to nearly 16,000 felons in the two months since a rules change that Republican Gov. Charlie Crist sought to help parolees re-establish themselves, his office said Wednesday. That compares to fewer than 14,000 former offenders that had their rights restored without a hearing in the year before the changes, which allow the Florida Parole Commission to restore those rights without a hearing. "They're having great success and it will only get better as we move along," Crist said. "I'd always rather have more, but I'm pleased with the progress and look forward to...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- It didn't get harder to sue businesses. Lawmakers didn't whack public schools or loosen gun laws. Nothing they did made it more difficult to have an abortion. And when was the last time a Florida Legislature with two Republicans for every one Democrat couldn't figure out how to cut taxes? After eight years when Democrats still the majority of voters in Florida but vastly outnumbered in the Legislature have felt steamrolled by a conservative agenda that included school vouchers, restrictions on abortions, laws aimed at reducing lawsuits and a record amount of tax cuts that critics...

TALLAHASSEE - Florida's three-decades-old ban on allowing gays to adopt children is under attack once again. But the ban has powerful allies, including Gov. Charlie Crist and Sen. Ronda Storms of Brandon, who ran for office on a pledge to prevent gays from being foster parents. Florida is one of three states, with Mississippi and Utah, that prohibits gays from adopting. Some state lawmakers, backed by human rights and gay rights groups, want to allow gay foster parents to adopt children if a judge rules it's in the child's best interest or if a gay adult were the legal guardian...

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Charlie Crist said Wednesday that he may issue an executive order single-handedly restoring civil rights to felons who have completed their sentences. The announcement from the Republican governor drew applause from nearly two dozen Democratic lawmakers from the legislative black caucus, known formally as the Florida Conference of Black State Legislators. -snip-

"...Gov. Charlie Crist is preparing to recommend that the controversial touch-screen voting machines used in Broward, Palm Beach and 13 other Florida counties be scrapped and replaced with optical scanners that would count paper ballots..."

Miami, FL – RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman addressed the Republican Governors Association this morning in Miami, Florida. The following is a transcript of his remarks as prepared for delivery. ************ Thank you, Governor Romney, for that kind introduction. And thank you all for inviting me here today to talk with you about the last month … and more importantly, about the next two years. Let me start by talking a little bit about November 7, and what it means for our party. Obviously, no one in this room is pleased with the election results. We knew going into 2006 that...

PENSACOLA, Fla. – A few years back, the popular Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was preparing for an election-eve "fly-around,'' a victory lap really, in which the governor would draw thousands to airport rallies. Charlie Crist, the Republican candidate for attorney general, wanted to climb on board to share in the love. But Bush had no room for Crist on the plane. Today, President Bush has arrived in Florida for an election-eve rally for the Sunshine State's Republican ticket – a rally at which Attorney General Charlie Crist, running for governor to replace the retiring Jeb Bush, was supposed to introduce...

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The White House did not hide its irritation Monday at Florida GOP gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist for ducking President George W. Bush at a campaign rally in the Republican friendly Panhandle. Crist said he considered the Pensacola area so firmly in his camp that it made more sense to campaign elsewhere in the state as the race to replace outgoing Gov. Jeb Bush tightened. On a tarmac in Texas where the president boarded Air Force One for the trip east, Bush political strategist Karl Rove mockingly questioned what kind of alternate rally Crist could put together that...

Florida Democrats' chances are fading, poll finds With Jim Davis trailing by 21 points in the governor's race, pollster John Zogby says the Democrats have no one on the top of the ticket to deliver party-wide victory. With five weeks left before the general election, only one Democrat on the statewide ballot -- U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson -- is leading his challenger, while Republicans hold double-digit leads from the governor's race to all but one of the Cabinet races, a new Miami Herald poll shows. The conclusions of the survey by Zogby International spell trouble for the Democratic Party. With...

TAMPA - A new poll in the Florida governor race shows discouraging news for Democratic candidate Jim Davis, the congressman from Tampa: a 15-point gap between himself and Republican Charlie Crist, the state's attorney general, and a relatively little-known name among Florida voters. The poll shows Crist and his running mate, Jeff Kottkamp, leading Davis and running mate Daryl Jones by 51 percent to 36 percent, with 11 percent undecided and other candidates totaling 2 percent. That means Davis has a lot of ground to make up on Crist and comparatively little time before the Nov. 7 election and with...

Welcome to the Charlie Crist for Governor Web site. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to earn your vote to become Florida's next Governor. My time in public service has been dedicated to fighting for you. I am running for Governor to carry on the outstanding legacy of Florida’s finest chief executive, Governor Jeb Bush. Florida needs to continue following consistent conservative principles so that all residents may share in the hope, safety and opportunity that makes ours such a great state....

Jim Davis' general election campaign for governor turned sour the moment he started celebrating winning the Democratic nomination. "How sweet it is!" he declared Tuesday night, digging at the sugar industry's investment of several million dollars on behalf of Rod Smith. Nothing wrong with poking a deep-pocket special interest. But Davis never mentioned Smith in his victory speech, never reached out to Smith's supporters, much less to Republicans. Meanwhile, Republican Charlie Crist was celebrating his more decisive primary victory by reaching out to Tom Gallagher's supporters, Democrats and anybody else within earshot. For Davis, the day after was even worse....

MIAMI -- The race for governor comes down to a Democrat who has railed against the Tallahassee establishment and Gov. Jeb Bush's policies versus a Republican who supports Bush in many ways, but isn't afraid to buck his party to side with the popular sentiment among voters. Attorney General Charlie Crist began his general election campaign with the overwhelming backing of Republican voters while U.S. Rep. Jim Davis failed to win over half the Democrats casting ballots in what was essentially a two-person race. "It's going to be a competitive, interesting race, but clearly Crist starts off with a major...

It is FLORIDA PRIMARY TIME ! - Come here to discuss who you voted for and why... and lets follow the results as they come in.. Click here to view live election results !!

OK, it's primary election day in Florida. I've heard stories of a light turn-out so far in most of the state. On tap for tonight are Rep and Dem primaries for governor and the rep primary for US Senate. There are also primaries for the House seats being vacated by Katherine Harris (R) and Jim Davis (D). There's at least one high profile (and bitter) state Senate primary between incumbent pro-life activist Randall Terry and state senate President Jim King. So, who's gonna win? Why? What do you know? What have you heard? This thread starts...NOW!

Attorney General Charlie Crist's formidable lead over Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher in the Republican primary for governor appears secure, according to a poll released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University, but with less than a week to go before Tuesday's election, the race between the leading Democrats is still up for grabs. Crist is ahead of Gallagher 57 to 32 percent, according to the Connecticut-based public opinion research group. But the poll says the contest between U.S. Rep. Jim Davis and state Sen. Rod Smith is much tighter, with Davis leading 43-32 percent, while a substantial 24 percent of Democrats surveyed...

Friends, lurkers and media, The debate between Tom Gallagher and Charlie Crist vying to be the Republican Primary winner to become Florida's next governor is MUST SEE TV and is on NBC statewide tonight, August 28th at 8:oo pm est. Watch and listen carefully. 1. Which candidate actually answers the questions. 2. What is the degree of difficulty of the questions? 3. Who acts like a grownup? 3. Who's the biggest namedropper on the stage? 4. Who makes promises to do fab things with your hard earned money that you'll never see again? 5. Who do you trust during times...

Poll indicates Crist-Gallagher race tightening A Florida chamber poll has Crist's lead down to 10 points, with 29 percent of voters undecided in the GOP gubernatorial race.

Pinellas County's Republican Party held a straw poll for the Sept. 5 primary at their Victory 2006 picnic Sunday. Looks like the local GOP, at least, is with Katherine Harris. Here are the results: U.S. Senate: Katherine Harris, 121; Leroy Collins, Jr., 56; Peter Monroe, 32; Will McBride, 24 U.S Rep. District 9: Gus Bilirakis, 219; David Langheier, 7 Governor: Charlie Crist, 201; Tom Gallagher, 31; Vernon Palmer, 1 CFO: Tom Lee, 115; Randy Johnson, 110; Milt Bauguess, 2 State Senate District 16: Kim Berfield, 132; Frank Farkas, 85 House District 48: Peter Nehr, 93; Ken Peluso, 54; Brian Flaherty,...

TUESDAY, AUGUST 22ND, TONIGHT::: TUNE IN TO YOUR LOCAL PBS STATION: Debate Gallagher v. Crist at 8:00 pm est. Floridians and Americans who like to watch super important debates! Tonight you are in for a real treat. PBS Stations all over Florida are covering the debate between GOP Candidate Tom Gallagher for Governor and GOP Candidate for Governor Charlie Crist. This thread is critical for a discussion of tonight's debate. WHAT DID YOU THINK OVERALL? 1. What was your reaction to the debate? 2. Who made a slip? 3. Who didn't answer a question? 4. Who won? This should be...

Nine different companies run by Miami developer and former lobbyist Chris Korge have doled out at least $4,500 to Republican Tom Gallagher's campaign for governor. That wouldn't be blogworthy if not for Korge's title as chairman of Democrat Rod Smith's campaign for governor. Korge said the checks were sent last year, long before he came on board with Smith's campaign, and that his business partner is a Republican. He added: "I've known Tom Gallagher for 20 years, and maybe I shouldn't say this, but I didn't object to the checks.'' Korge is a Democratic party soldier who has raised lots...

MIMS, Fla. (AP) -- Closing the file on a decades-old case, investigators on Wednesday said four long-dead Ku Klux Klan members were behind a house bombing that killed two black civil rights activists in 1951. Harry T. and Harriette Moore died after the explosion under their bed on Christmas Day, their 25th wedding anniversary. Attorney General Charlie Crist said Wednesday investigators had enough circumstantial evidence to secure a grand jury indictment had the men still been alive. Several previous investigations failed to produce criminal charges, including one nearly 30 years ago that an investigator said stopped just short of an...