2009/2010: Crist jumps in…

Posted: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 9:18 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: 2009, 2010

FLORIDA: “The expected announcement Tuesday by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist that he’s running for the Senate would seem to be a rare bit of good news for beleaguered Republicans,” Politico writes. “But while Crist is a brand-name recruit with sky-high approval ratings and bipartisan appeal, his path to keeping the seat of retiring Sen. Mel Martinez in GOP hands has at least one significant roadblock: Sunshine State conservatives.” The Florida GOP primary is closed, meaning independents cannot vote. So Crist has to “make his case to a restless GOP base dissatisfied with his high-profile advocacy for President Barack Obama’s stimulus and his handling of the state’s budget woes. And he will be facing a vigorous fight from former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, a young, outspoken Hispanic conservative who is capturing the attention of activists in Florida and across the country.”

More: “A major wild card is the involvement of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a Rubio mentor who has deep support among many Florida GOP activists and a frosty relationship with his successor. Bush has given no signal of his future involvement in a primary, but those familiar with his thinking don’t expect him to back Crist.”

The Palm Beach Post: “Crist will put out a brief statement instead of holding a news conference to announce his decision. His press office, however, has invited the media to join him for a ‘Boots to Books’ press conference this morning and another later to launch a tourism program called ‘Viva Florida!’ State GOP officials said Crist wanted a "low-key" announcement.”

ILLINOIS: Jan Schakowsky hasn’t announced she’s running for Illinois Senate, but it looks like she might be. She’s ramping up fundraising and “held her annual women’s power lunch fundraiser” yesterday with “Obama’s senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).” Politico calls the lunch “a good way to begin networking for a statewide campaign.”

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Comments

I wonder if Crist will be dissed by the extremists in the repugnant one's party?

I sure hope that Jan Schakowsky runs for the Senate in Illinois, she will be better than Burris for sure.

Eric, Salinas, CA (Sent Tuesday, May 12, 2009 9:23 AM)

>>>The Florida GOP primary is closed, meaning independents cannot vote. So Crist has to “make his case to a restless GOP base dissatisfied with his high-profile advocacy for President Barack Obama’s stimulus and his handling of the state’s budget woes.
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Sounds alot like Specter's situation in PA. Looks like Crist can either stay with the GOP and lose, or switch to Democrat and lose.

On another topic (since I was unable to get on line yesterday), the self-righteousness on display from the liberal media (I'm talking to you, Keith O., Robert Gibbs) regarding Sykes' Limbaugh remarks smacks a bit of hypocrisy. I'd expect the righties to groan and complain, or perhaps cower in fear since, after all, she mocked their Dark Lord. But anyone who didn't get up and walk out of the room in outrage after the joke was made is just as complicit. For one thing, everyone in that room, Democrat, Republican, media, liberal, and conservative, has made a cottage industry of manipulating public fear and anxiety over 9/11 for their own gains. For another, this is Rush Limbaugh we're talking. He's said far worse than Sykes about 9/11 widows, blacks, drug addicts, the disabled, etc. I recall the same throwing-under-the-bus ritual being done to Trent Lott after he praised Strom Thurmond claiming the country would have been better off if he was elected president. Everyone applauded him then as well, until the press got a hold of it. He then became the GOP sacrificial lamb. Likewise Ken Salazar (sp?) and the "Barack The Magic Negro" CD (which I'm sure is still in a couple of GOP CD players as I write this). My point is you can't laugh at a joke or applaud a statement made in public, then get on your high-horse about it as soon as it receives some bad press. Personally, I have more respect for people on the wrong side of an issue (as insignificant as this one is), than I do for people who pretend they aren't.

http://jawillie.blog.com

jawillie, Philadelphia, PA. (Sent Tuesday, May 12, 2009 9:40 AM)

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