Posted on 11/06/2006 11:35:50 AM PST by Diddle E. Squat
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 would rival the expected 10,000-person crowd that Bush was expected to draw at the Pensacola Civic Center.
The White House already had distributed schedules saying Crist would introduce Bush at the rally.
Crist's opponent, Democratic Rep. Jim Davis, seized on the news.
"Now that the president is so unpopular, Charlie refuses to stand side by side with him," Davis said. "It says when the going gets tough, Charlie won't stand up."
Crist's chief of staff, George LeMieux, said the candidate already has strong support in the heavily Republican Pensacola area and thought his time would be better spent campaigning elsewhere. LeMieux said the decision had nothing to do with the president's job approval ratings.
Jeb Bush will attend the Pensacola event in Crist's place. Rep. Katherine Harris, who is mounting a lukewarm challenge to Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, will also be with the president. Before the September primary, Republican leaders failed to support Harris.
Bush is using the last day of his 10-state campaign swing to flush out GOP and swing voters needed to keep Republicans sitting in the governor's offices of Arkansas and Texas as well.
It is his fifth consecutive day of campaigning, traveling to states where his advisers believe he can best help fend off the Democratic threat to take over Congress and end up with a majority of governorships for the first time in 12 years.
After Florida, Bush is heading to Arkansas where the race for governor pits Democratic Attorney General Mike Beebe against Republican Asa Hutchinson, a former congressman and federal Homeland Security official.
The Beebe-Hutchinson faceoff for the open governership already is the most expensive gubernatorial campaign in state history. Overall, Beebe, who is leading in the polls, has raised $6.3 million and spent $5.7 million in his bid for governor. Hutchinson, a former congressman, has raised nearly $3.3 million and spent about $3.1 million.
Before returning to his ranch in Crawford, Texas, Bush is speaking at a rally in Dallas for Gov. Rick Perry, who is leading the polls in his re-election bid.
On Election Day, Bush plans to vote in Crawford and then fly back to Washington to wait for ballot returns.
I would not compare him to Karr or Jackson. Foley, yes.
GW has favorable approval ratings here in Fla. You'd think that no politician would find it advantageous to distance himself from Bush.
Same creepiness. I mean you can just look at the guy and in 45 seconds you just know he's into something twisted.
And people say I'm suppose to vote for him tomorrow????
and feed the media BS sharks , I am soooo mad@!@!!
I've been saying this for a long while!
i knew i was doing something wrong with that spelling. I think i just can't hold my nose enough, i can't bring myself to vote for pope for the state house. haven't decided for sheriff, lady running i went to school with and graduated with, dem. republican black man. I think both would be okay.
Because governors have all kinds of power through appointments and the bully pulpit. Look how Jeb Bush was able to turn public opinion on the High Speed Rail proposal and rescind what they had approved a few years earlier. A Democrat governor can do a heck of a lot of damage, the nonsense that a Dem gov is neutralized by a GOP legislature is baloney. Appointed gov't staff often become entrenched and wreak all kinds of havok behind the scenes and out of the media spotlight. Plus the media will cover for a Dem gov and often are able to propel them to higher offices, as "A successful Democrat governor of a Southern state who drew support from both sides."
What Crist did today was dumb, allowing the Dem to win the race would be multiple times as dumb. Don't be suckered into that.
Please don't compound Crist's mistake with a worse one.
Have you already forgotten the damage wrought by the Florida Supreme Court in 2000, and how it came within a hair of being far, far worse?
Crist was an idiot to pull this stunt
And yes ... you can keep TO :0)
Would urge that FL Republicans to avoid short-sighted overreactions that could wreak long-lasting damage by enabling Democrats.
"And people say I'm suppose to vote for him tomorrow?" Yup-every thread today intimates that anyone voting for anybody without an (R) will be burned at the stake as a heretic.
There are a LOT of Republicans here in Florida who are upset with BUSH for not inviting Katherine Harris to join ANY of his appearances here. Crist's Ads mention several Republicans campaigning for State Offices, but do not mention Harris. It's a huge turn off for the THOUSANDS of Voters who CHOOSE Harris to be our Senator, to have both the President and Jeb Bush shun her. So...I guess I don't care if he was upset, so is she at the way she has been ignored by her Party..you know...the one that SHE SAVED in 2000!
She is with President Bush this afternoon.
BTW..I saw her in a debate with Timmy Russert..(Bill Nelson seemed barely awake)...and she did very well.
I, too, am sorry that the RNC did not back her enough.
I know that there are people that have said she is a diva-type and so she was too hard to work with....but, she knows her politics...and is very smart.
You're not really buying this AP story are you? I guarantee this was all worked out ahead of time as Crist has quite a lead in Pensacola. I too am a FL resident, and I voted last Thursday in early voting. Crist is far better than the alternative shmuck Davis....I would never take a chance of not voting for governor if it means Davis could possibly be our next one. Where's the cyanide?
On Fox News, they just showed Crist with is arm around John McCain..(not today, I don't think)...
So...I guess he wants to hitch his wagon to a "winner" instead of a "loser"...
That is too bad...and I wouldn't tell any Floridians to vote for a dem....but, I sure would take the time to phone his office or e-mail and tell him what an idiot he is making of himself AND the state of Florida.
But I just saw President Bush in the Panhandle and FOX made a point of saying he was there for Crist and Crist was a no show.
It also showed the clip of Rove saying he wondered if Crist could draw 9 or 10 thousand at the last minute in West Palm as they did in the Panhandle.
I believe this goes to the heart of Crist character....or lack of.
Crist didn't come off smelling like roses after snubbing our President and Rove was piqued enough to give reporters a sound byte!!
Stunningly inept move by Crist's campaign. The day before the election is GOTV time. Period. Making sure that the reliable voters you already have actually get out and vote is a helluva lot more important than wasting time trying to win over unreliable undecideds.
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