Posted on 08/11/2006 11:24:18 PM PDT by davidosborne
Like every other Crist supporter in the state -
Ask them why they are supporting Charlie and they talk about Tom. Is it becuase you don't really know?
Please, stop and think about why you are supporting him.
You all seem to talk about only three things: bashing Tom, the polls, and money. The same polls that had Jeb losing to McBride and GW losing to Kerry. MONEY - is that all you care about. Well Tom has raised a lot and he didnt have to sell himself to the likes of Donald Trump to get 1.5 million of it. If you line Rod Smith and Charlie Crist up they are almost identical.
People vote their pocketbook and that's why his campaign has stagnated.
Tom is seen as the bad guy every time an insurance payment is made and even though it is not his fault, he still gets the blame among most Floridians.
Ask your neighbor.
This involves dealing with what's actually and measurably 'out there'.
There are a lot of people who avoid politics as much as possible and who are unfamiliar with the way government works.
To them, Tom Gallagher was "the man" in Florida when it comes to insurance. To be fair, it is a part of his job description (he is effectively the insurance "Czar" of the state).
These same people are attributing their insurance rate increases to him like the "global warmists" are blaming SUV's.
Hey...they're wrong, really wrong, but they will still vote on those incorrect views.
Perception is a fickle thing that is contstantly changing direction. So you base your support for Charlie on misconceptions the public has for his opponent. That mind boggles me. I base my support for Tom on his understanding of the issues, his ability to take a stand, his dedication to this party for the last 30 years, and his straight talk no BS style.
I appreciate your honesty - but your reasoning for supporting Crist is comparable to the support Kerry recieved in 04. (Kerry is OK but I really hate Bush)
I wish you would have rather said he was your second cousin's, best friend's college buddy.
Public perception of our candidates is not at all fair, but they are still going to vote on what they believe even if it's not true.
The public, falsely, believes that Gallagher allowed their insurance rates to increase. Until this can be refuted to the point that everyone catches on, he is doomed.
Please get out of that "loop"....I am supporting nobody in this primary because neither candidate has earned my support and I have been disappointed at the lack of good choices.
It's more like figuring out which one would do the least damage.
Don't try to make me into a "straw man".
Heey, Norm...why don't you just move into your neighbors the State Attorney's house. This way, you can ask him any question you want across the breakfast table and not have to walk across the lawn.
And your point is?
He does not live next door, but within the course of my daily walk. I'm retired but not confined to the house and walking seems to do wonders.
If you want, I will FRmail you his phone number and you can talk to him yourself.
OK?
I hope you and everyone else will watch the upcoming Gubernatorial Debates.
Aug 22nd in Tampa - 8pm
Aug 28th in West Palm
Sorry I dont know more specifics - but I'm sure they will both be betteradvertised soon. I do here the Crist camp has been a little relcutant to debate.
Does anyone know more about the time and where the debates will be broadcasted?
It crosses party lines (largely because it gives the Dems some talking points) and nobody on our side has arisen to set the record straight.
Why hasn't Gallagher been able to clear things up on what is probably the number one issue?
I don't think we have a particularly good choice. You'd think in a state of 18 million people, there'd be someone other than Bush who you could support with a clear conscience, but I don't know who it is.
I love the way you assume so much knowledge of the boot camp incident, that happened where I live, but your information came from the mainstream media and you are "hundreds of miles from the scene of the crime".
Kinda like that Abu Ghraib incident. Gotta' be careful when you use the MSM to outsource your information. They have been known to get it wrong. By the way, most of the information in the news media originated from the Miami Herald and they are "hundreds of miles from the scene of the crime".
I hope the Governor's race works out well for Conservatives.
It would stink to have the office move left after Jeb.
From today's Orlando Sentinel:
Crist's centrist line troubles Democrats
John Kennedy | Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Posted August 15, 2006
TALLAHASSEE -- With Republican Charlie Crist looking poised to be his party's nominee for governor, Florida Democrats are growing increasingly focused on him as a likely opponent this fall. And they are worried.
Crist's middle-of-the-road politics defuses several education, environmental and social issues that Democrats had hoped to use to rally their key supporters this November.
Instead, to many Democrats, Crist's stance on class size, vouchers, abortion, offshore oil drilling, stem-cell research and same-sex civil unions sounds a lot like their own, making the prospective GOP nominee a tough target.
"Sure, he could be a difficult opponent," said Luis Navarro, executive director of the Florida Democratic Party. "But if he becomes the nominee, we're going to make him answer for the job Republicans have done in this state the past eight years."
With polls showing Crist holding a lead of at least 20 percentage points over Republican rival Tom Gallagher, Democrats have begun turning up their criticism of the front-runner, questioning his command of state issues going back to the mid-1990s and his service in the Florida Senate.
Crist, the state's attorney general since 2002 and who previously served as state education commissioner, gave Democrats fodder last week by acknowledging at a Palm Beach Post editorial-board interview that he knew little about the state's standardized FCAT test given to schoolchildren. Even so, the newspaper endorsed him.
"He has a very long public record, and we will be looking at that," Navarro said, unwilling to disclose details about the Democratic strategy for taking on Crist. "But it's clear, at this point, that if Tom Gallagher has anything left to throw at Crist, he better start doing it."
Gallagher, the state's chief financial officer, has moved decidedly to the right this campaign season. With just three weeks left before the Sept. 5 primary, Gallagher is trying to block Crist's road to the nomination by challenging Crist's conservative credentials.
But those same moderate positions embraced by Crist are concerning Democrats and their allies looking beyond their own primary contest between U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa and state Sen. Rod Smith of Alachua.
"He's a hard match-up because he's staked out positions on both sides of an issue," said Rep. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach, in line to become House Democratic leader this fall.
Campaigning recently in Tampa, Crist praised Gov. Jeb Bush, calling him the "greatest governor in America." But though proclaiming his allegiance, Crist quietly takes issue with key initiatives by Bush, who remains a divisive symbol for many Democrats.
The Republican governor has twice tried to get voters to reconsider the 2002 amendment restricting class size in Florida. Crist has said he will comply with the mandate.
Bush's statewide private-school voucher program, declared unconstitutional in January, also would likely fade away because Crist has shown no interest in overturning the ruling.
The Florida Education Association, which sought to unseat Bush in 2002 mainly over those issues and heavily financed his Democratic opponent, Bill McBride, has issued dual endorsements to Smith and Davis in their primary fight.
An endorsement for the general election may emerge next month, but Mark Pudlow, a union spokesman, said that it was not all-but guaranteed for the Democratic nominee.
"We'll look at the candidates' track record," Pudlow said.
Crist has distanced himself from last year's debate about Terri Schiavo, which Bush helped drive through the state Capitol to the halls of Congress. And he has broken with the governor over his support for limited offshore oil drilling.
Crist also opposed President Bush's veto of legislation to advance embryonic stem-cell research. Crist also does not oppose civil unions for gay couples.
But Crist continues to surge in the Republican field even as he blazes a centrist course, underscored by his plan to campaign this week with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., whose populist image draws crossover Democratic support.
"Crist is almost like a Democrat-lite," said Jim Kitchens, an Orlando political consultant and pollster. "And that's going to make it difficult for real Democrats looking to defeat him."
Does Gallagher have any real shot at this?
Yeah, it is called "election day."
Charlie Crist is a Republican in Name Only.
They wanted to know if I was voting for Crist or Gallagher.
I said Gallagher.
And yes, your question is valid....very true.
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