Free Republic

Via the Tampa Bay Times, former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist - widely seen as a potential future candidate for the job, only as a Democrat - is backing Sen. Bill Nelson in his Florida Senate race. Crist will attend a fundraiser with Bill Clinton - who famously tried to get Kendrick Meek to bow out of the three-way U.S. Senate race in 2010 so Crist could win, and caucus with Democrats. It's not exactly hard to see Crist making it formal at some point, if he does run

Charlie Crist apparently wants to cast himself as a reasonable moderate in the Florida Republican primary for the open Senate seat. That may be understandable with Marco Rubio’s rise as a conservative star in the national political fundament, but it takes more than gainsay to make an argument for moderate positions. Call this a Kirk Watson moment; when the Palm Beach Post challenged Crist’s insistence that he wouldn’t scrap ObamaCare by asking him to identify anything he liked about it, Crist came up empty (via Newsbeat1): Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate, told The Palm Beach Post editorial...

It was a moment of unintentional comedy earlier this year when newly appointed U.S. Sen. George LeMieux called himself a " Charlie Crist Republican." No doubt LeMieux spoke in earnest about the man who appointed him to the Senate, and who is now running to succeed him in it. But the joke was that nobody knew what he meant. What is a "Charlie Crist Republican" anyway? Honestly, do you know how Charlie Crist would vote on a federal takeover of health care, on a cap-and-trade energy tax, on massive new spending bills, or on another stimulus boondoggle?

At a contentious meeting, Broward Republicans decided to hold off on deciding whether to have a straw poll to indicate their preference for Charlie Crist or Marco Rubio for Senate. BY AMY SHERMAN A move for Broward Republicans to hold a straw poll in the U.S. Senate race failed Monday night, avoiding for the moment what would have been the kind of tense vote that has taken place in other parts of the state. But there was lots of tension. Patrick Castronovo, a Lauderdale Lakes committeeman, made a motion to hold a straw poll to choose between two Republican candidates...

Former Florida GOP chair endorses Crist Florida Sen. candidate, Charlie Crist, announces that Al Cardenas, a former chair of the Florida Republican party, is officially backing his Senate bid. In endorsing him, Cardenas also applauds Marco Rubio's accomplishments and "spirited campaign". “Today, I am pleased to announce my support of Governor Charlie Crist’s candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 2010,” said Cardenas who served as Chairman of the Republican Party from 1998-2003. “I witnessed Charlie’s energy, focus, and leadership as he went on to become our Commissioner of Education and Attorney General. Governor Crist re-energized the state’s top lawyer office...

WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell may have a tepid relationship with fellow Kentucky Republican Sen. Jim Bunning, but he's giving GOP rising star and 2010 Senate candidate Florida Gov. Charlie Crist a thumbs up. According to Crist's Web site, McConnell gave the governor a full-throated endorsement. "Decisions are being made every day in Washington that have a direct impact upon the lives of all Americans and we need Charlie Crist in the U.S. Senate to ensure that those decisions will benefit the citizens of Florida.” Crist, McConnell and other party luminaries are slated to attend a campaign fundraising...

Last year I supported Sen. John McCain for president. Despite these efforts, the American public chose Barack Obama as the person they wanted in the White House to confront the worst financial market turmoil since the Great Depression and the worst recession in a generation. Regardless of whom they voted for Nov. 4, he is our president, and every patriotic American should hope he succeeds in ending the economic problems that now beset our country. Soon after his inauguration, the president signed legislation aimed at stimulating economic growth. Many good and decent people opposed this measure, and some even offered...

TAMPA - Making his first U.S. Senate campaign appearance in Tampa, Marco Rubio today said party leaders and political chiefs shouldn't be the ones to decide the Republican primary between himself and Gov. Charlie Crist. "I would hold my Republican credentials up there with anyone who currently holds leadership statewide in the party," Rubio said in an interview. "I feel like I deserve to be treated fairly." Rubio, a former state House speaker from Miami, was commenting on efforts by party leaders, including state GOP Chairman Jim Greer, to line up the party behind Crist in the primary. Greer and...

This week’s endorsement of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist by senior Senate Republicans is being cheered by GOP senators as a move toward the middle. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) endorsed Crist over former state House Speaker Marco Rubio, a protégé of former Gov. Jeb Bush and a more conservative candidate. The decision by McConnell and Cornyn was the first such choice since last month’s defection of Arlen Specter to the Senate’s Democratic conference. Moderate GOP senators like Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine used that opportunity to publicly warn the...

Charlie Crist is a popular candidate best positioned to keep a Senate seat in Republican hands. But he has also broken with party orthodoxy on environmental and voting rights issues. BY PETER WALLSTEN Washington. With the Republican Party diminished in power and embroiled in debate over whether to broaden its ideology or adhere to core ideals, top GOP officials today took the unusual step of inserting themselves into a party primary, picking a moderate U.S. Senate candidate over a conservative in Florida. In endorsing Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas,...

Loads of Republicans are salivating over Jeb Bush’s consideration of running to replace U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez in two years. But Gov. Charlie Crist gave a decidedly cool response earlier today when asked about the possibility of his predecessor entering what is expected to be a crowded field. “We’ll see what develops. I imagine a lot of people will have interest. Time will tell. These things usually take a little while to sort of sort out. He’s a great Floridian,” Crist told reporters. Martinez announced yesterday he would not seek reelection and Bush is thought by some to be at...

MIAMI - Republicans gathered last week to talk about what went wrong in the Nov. 4 election and how to fix it, and the two highest-profile leaders - Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin - offered sharply different recipes for a comeback. Crist's message: Racial inclusiveness, bipartisanship and civility offer the clearest path for the GOP's road to recovery. "It worked in Florida," Crist said. "It could work nationally." Palin put forward a harder line: Tough adherence to the party's ideological principles. Republicans, she said, should start on the road back by dogging the Obama administration and...

In a nation turned blue, the South remains largely red. That's the takeaway from the 2008 election, and the Republicans' best hope for resurrecting their party. John McCain — for all his political waffling and personal idiosyncrasies — still held on to the South. Except for Virginia and Florida (two states heavily infiltrated by Northerners) and North Carolina (a race so close it couldn't be called until three days after the election), the South remained solidly in the GOP column. From Florida's Panhandle to Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee, McCain actually garnered a higher percentage of votes than George W. Bush...

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.

Florida governor to endorse McCain TRIBUNE-REVIEW Salena Zito ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Associated Press is reporting that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will throw his support behind John McCain. He joins Sen. Mel Martinez in what may prove to be the push McCain needs over Mitt Romney as the two battle it out for first place in the Sunshine State. Getting Crist’s support was considered by all of the candidates a huge catch. Crist enjoys over a 70 percent approval rating.