Posted on 08/22/2006 6:27:34 AM PDT by Happy Valley Dude
Voting in Florida's primary election begins today with the start of early voting – and will culminate on Sept. 5 with the actual ballot vote.
As Florida voters take to the ballot box, NewsMax strongly endorses Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist for the Republican nomination for governor.
Simply put, we believe he's the more qualified candidate and the one most likely to keep the governor's post in GOP hands come November. While Crist's opponent in the primary, chief financial officer Tom Gallagher, is an able candidate and a conservative, Crist's solid record on crime, education, and taxes (he opposes them) makes him the "Reagan conservative" – our choice for the GOP nod.
Throughout his career Crist has been a fighter for innovative, positive change. As a state senator, Crist fought for and passed the STOP (Stop Turning Out Prisoners) legislation that required prisoners to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.
He also co-sponsored legislation to implement the charter schools bill, which gives parents the freedom to pick the best schools for their children.
As commissioner of education, Crist supported early reading programs to better prepare children to read at grade level when they enter school. As attorney general, Crist helped draft and worked to pass tougher price gouging and looting laws, supported stronger penalties for identity thieves, and spearheaded landmark legislation requiring prescription drugs to be tracked from the manufacturer to the pharmacy to ensure drug safety.
He also created an innovative program to aid victims of domestic violence, and was named the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence's 2005 Advocate of the Year. He has vowed that as governor, he will promote business in Florida and appoint conservative, not activist, judges to the courts. Despite Gallagher's claims to the contrary, Crist is solidly pro-life and supports a constitutional amendment to define marriage as being between a man and a woman.
Significantly, polls have consistently showed that Crist is the stronger GOP candidate, and he would fare better against either of his Democratic rivals, Rep. Jim Davis and State Sen. Rod Smith, in the general election to replace outgoing Gov. Jeb Bush.
One recent poll revealed that in a head-to-head match-up, Crist outpolled Davis 48 percent to 32 percent, compared to Gallagher's margin of 41 to 38. Against Smith, Crist won by 18 percentage points; Gallagher led by only 10.
Crist has also won an impressive list of endorsements. Recently Sen. John McCain expressed his support for Crist, as did the National Rifle Association, whose past president Marion Hammer said "no one has been stronger" than Crist in support of Second Amendment, self-defense and anti-crime issues.
Other endorsements have come from Sen. Mel Martinez, Congressmen Mario Diaz-Balart and Jeff Miller, the Police Benevolent Association, the Fraternal Order of Police, the Florida Association of State Troopers, the Cuban American Veterans Association and the Florida Nurses Association, as well as 46 members of the Florida legislature and 28 county sheriffs.
Gov. Jeb Bush promised to remain neutral in the race and has not endorsed a candidate. But NewsMax believes Charlie Crist is the best candidate to continue Gov. Bush's legacy in Tallahassee and keep Florida among the most prosperous states in the Union.
LOL!
I'll let my tagline do the talking.
I picked up a handful of Crist Bumper stickers at the gun show yesterday.
News max sucks
"News max sucks" ?? Therefore, Crist sucks too?
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Thanks,
Yeah....can't wait till he raises our taxes to give undeserving teachers the bigger salaries he's promising.....looking forward to that. NOT!
I saw a post on the bang list that supported Crist as being more solid pro gun than Gallager. Gallager if I remember was for the AWB.
No, it isn't.
“Charlie Crist has been surprising people since winning his state senate seat in 1992… Republicans should put Mr. Crist on the ballot in November.” - Palm Beach Post, Aug 13, 2006
Two weeks from now in the September 5th primary election, we will be deciding on the Republican Candidate to be our next Governor. This is a critically important decision and I urge you to take the time to vote.
I have endorsed Tom Gallagher for Governor because I believe that Tom best represents the conservative Republican values that are important for Florida's future. Tom has recently been endorsed by Dr. James Dobson, which gives us all a good indication of Tom's values.
Tom has been on Governor Bush's cabinet for the last 8 years and he has helped Jeb implement many of the ideas that have made Florida a better place to live.
I believe we need Tom to carry on these ideas. Tom has been very clear on the issues and his platform. Tom is Pro-Life, Tom is against amnesty for illegal immigrants, Tom is against civil unions for gay couples, and he has taken a position alongside Governor Bush to develop alternatives to the class size amendment which will cost taxpayers many billions to implement.
Tom has clear plans on many of the issues facing Florida, I encourage you to visit his web site www.TG2006.com and become familiar with his ideas.
Some polls show Tom running behind his opponent, however, in primaries low turnout polls are often wrong. So your vote in this race is critical. Please join me on September 5th and vote for Tom Gallagher for Governor.
Thanks
[Congressman] Dave Weldon
FV SAYS: CHECK MY USER POSTS. People who aren't in FLORIDA can watch TONIGHT'S GOVERNOR'S DEBATE on a link that I just posted! FV
I stopped reading newsmax years ago because you have to sift through so many ads to get to their brand of news. We can't really insult other sites here so I'll stop right there.
I have a handful of Gallagher bumper stickers. So, we're even. We won't be even after tonight's televised debate. Gallagher is going to win the debate and viewers will see for the first time that Crist just doesn't have the stuff to be governor. He's Al Gore without the global warming.
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