Crist partnered with the AARP and also joined. Charlie Crist and Harry Belafonte, proud members of the AARP.
Belafonte said that President Bush was the world's worst terrorist. He said it when he was with Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.
Posted on 08/09/2006 5:08:17 AM PDT by Happy Valley Dude
Tom Gallagher is weighing whether to drop out of the governor's race to help his supporters rally around his rival in the GOP primary. BY MARY ELLEN KLAS meklas@MiamiHerald.com
TALLAHASSEE - Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Gallagher is considering dropping out of the race at the urging of top advisors who want time to make peace with his front-running GOP rival, his close associates have told The Miami Herald.
Gallagher, whose fundraising and poll numbers have remained stagnant, is taking the advice seriously but has not made up his mind, his advisors said. What is clear is that Gallagher did not expect such a ferocious challenge from his affable opponent, Attorney General Charlie Crist, who has surged ahead in the polls by studiously avoiding conflict.
Gallagher has complained to friends that when Crist is forced to take a position, he often cribs Gallagher's policy proposals: ''He uses my words and ideas and says it better than I do,'' a frustrated Gallagher told one friend.
Gallagher's campaign said Tuesday that the candidate is considering all his options:
''Tom is evaluating -- with his family and his friends -- what is best for him and what is best for the Republican Party,'' said Gallagher spokesman Alberto Martinez.
This is not what Florida's top Republicans expected when they came through with nearly $9 million in contributions for the chief financial officer and lined up endorsements from the party's religious conservative wing.
Now, with Gallagher as much as 20 percentage points behind in recent polls and down by more than $2 million, many of those same people are getting cold feet. Some want Gallagher to bow out of the race to give high-profile supporters time to position themselves within the Crist campaign and allow Republicans to save their resources for the general election.
`A LOT OF PRESSURE'
''He is under a lot of pressure from a lot of divergent groups,'' said Tom Slade, former chairman of the state Republican Party who said he was among those who have talked to Gallagher about getting out of the race.
Among those who are pressuring Gallagher, Slade said: ``Most of his heavy contributors who would feel very good about the opportunity to make good on the other side.''
Over the weekend, Gallagher met with some of his closest advisors in a series of one-on-one conversations in which they discussed the fate of his candidacy.
In addition to Slade, Gallagher has spoken with former Republican Party chairman Al Cárdenas and political consultant David Johnson, neither of whom would discuss their conversations with The Miami Herald.
Cárdenas did say Gallagher has not made up his mind yet on whether to leave the race and will not decide until new polls assess how well his latest round of ads are doing at moving voters.
''Today is not a day when he's seriously contemplating leaving the race,'' Cárdenas said Tuesday. ``It will probably be next week before it's fair for the Gallagher campaign to make an evaluation of where they stand in the race.''
Cárdenas and Slade said they will support whatever decision Gallagher makes.
The choice before Gallagher is whether to stay in the race and lose nobly, requiring both him and Crist to follow through with plans to spend another $4 million on TV ads before the Sept. 5 primary, or drop out now.
If Gallagher leaves the race, his name would still appear on the ballot, but his supporters could join the Crist bandwagon and jockey to become among Tallahassee's elite if Crist wins the election in November.
Gallagher himself ruled out the third option -- pulling down Crist's poll numbers by launching negative television ads -- months ago. At the time, Gallagher announced that neither he nor the third-party political groups that back him would resort to nasty television ads.
Gallagher has not wavered from that decision, and Crist's political advisors have warned they will return fire fiercely if Gallagher should.
Gallagher continued moving ahead with his campaign strategy Tuesday, visiting newspaper editorial boards while his campaign launched a second ad on Spanish-language television in Miami, featuring popular U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami.
Meanwhile, Gallagher is being urged to stay in the race by members of his campaign staff and his wife Laura, Slade said.
'I talked to his campaign a couple of days ago and they said: `We've got the tools to stay in it,' '' Slade said. 'He would not surprise me at all if he were to say: `This is a Republican primary, I've got a legitimate right to be in it and Charlie could stub his toe.' ''
The reality, Slade said, is that Gallagher faces long odds.
''He's got a pretty good deficit in both money and voters and that is not the recipe that winning political candidates seek,'' Slade said.
``He's also running against what some have called the best retail politician they've ever seen.''
As the week goes on, the window is closing for Gallagher to drop out and still protect his supporters if he were to lose, sources said.
MOMENTUM LOSS
Crist campaign advisor Mac Stipanovich said that while he would prefer to have Gallagher drop out early to allow the Crist campaign to ''meld the campaign staff, have sit-downs and retool county organizations,'' the downside is the loss of the after-primary momentum of a competitive victory.
''We lose the slingshot effect from the election night victory -- and all that goes with it -- particularly with a candidate that was once perceived to be very formidable,'' Stipanovich said.
Much of Gallagher's decision will depend on how far he wants to go to help his friends make a soft landing if his campaign fails.
''It's a decision Tom Gallagher has got to make and nobody can push him,'' Slade said. ``He's not pushable.''
GO, GALLAGHER!
Freepers, please be advised it is MedNole's opinion that my statements are inaccurate.
He is entitled to his opinion and if he wants to re-post my posts here, that's fine because they make the case for TOM GALLAGHER FOR GOVERNOR!!!!! Go, Gallagher!
Sorry, but I'm toooo busy with Ms. Kathrine Harris campaign so I have not paid much attention to the Governor race, my fault!!!
What are the issues here, that you prefer Crist to Gallagher???
Did Senator Bill Nelson take Florida out of the national risk pool when he was Florida's Insurance Commissioner? YES. This is Bill Nelson's dirty little secret.
The war chest, not the July totals, silly.
They won't all turn out for Crist. Crist loses to Davis because he's such a putz.
I don't like either one of them and I hate this. Two men that I would not allow even to step on my front lawn and I have to vote for one of them. I am so sick of this!!!!
Charlie Crist has a giant AARP card. He's already partnered with them as FLA AG. Does that help? I don't think as AG, he should be forming alliances like that.
Geeez, I really can't believe that I'm getting into a pissing match with you. But I will defend myself. This is the LAST time I will address this.
1.) Was it false to repeatedly state that Gallagher has been cleared of all ethical charges and that he no longer is facing a probe from the ethics commission?
2.) Was it false to state that Crist is weak on eminent domain, given the fact that immediately following the Kelo decision, he sent memos to state legislators letting them know the best way to address the problem. Crist has been a leader in eminent domain, and implying otherwise is completely false.
3.) Was it false to attack Crist's campaign manager because his dad is a developer, when the same could be said for Gallagher's campaign manager?
4.) Two newspaper articles have stated that Gallagher is considering dropping out. You have unequivocally stated that this is false. What do you know that Gallagher's inner eschelon doesn't know?
Charlie Crist, sun worshipper from Putzville.
AARP is a socialist organization.
The relationship between Jeb and Crist is strained. This is not a new development.
Check the link in post 15. OPS4 posted part of that blog, but left out the entire beginning, which lambasts Gallagher for being a Christian, and calls his supporters "right-wing religious nuts."
Well, Crist partnered with them without my permission in the FL AG Office and there's the business re: Charlie's giant AARP card. They had a big ceremony when Charlie joined. Be right back.
Crist partnered with the AARP and also joined. Charlie Crist and Harry Belafonte, proud members of the AARP.
Belafonte said that President Bush was the world's worst terrorist. He said it when he was with Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.
Why even bother to ask? Of course, he/she has no proof. That is Floriduh's modus operundi.
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