Scott’s approval rating is just 33%, with 57% of voters disapproving of him… these numbers represent a regression from early November when he was at a 37/48 spread. Scott meets with near universal disapproval from Democrats (21/71) and independents (32/64) and is even on pretty shaky ground with Republicans (49/38). [...]
[Charlie] Crist would start out as the favorite in a showdown with Scott. He leads 53-39, most notably taking a whooping 29% of the Republican vote. He still has some residual appeal to Republican voters. Crist isn’t the only Democrat who could give Scott trouble for reelection though.
Sink (47/40), Iorio (43/39), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (44/42) all lead Scott in hypothetical head to head match ups as well. [...]
We actually find him trailing in a head to head contest with Allen West, 38/37.
Via HuffPo, Republican campaign consultant Scott Tranter was on a panel hosted by the Pew Center and came right out and said this:
“A lot of us are campaign officials — or campaign professionals — and we want to do everything we can to help our side. Sometimes we think that’s voter ID, sometimes we think that’s longer lines — whatever it may be.”
Or as those on the right would put it, “How dare you accuse us of voter suppression! You’re just imagining things.”
Good grief, what more do voters need? This party is admitting out loud what bottom feeders they are. They’ve told Americans over and over again that they’ll lie, cheat, and steal in order to win, because they sure can’t on their policy positions. So dirty tricks it is then.
However, per Reuters, things may very well change. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a speech in Boston that U.S. election officials should register eligible voters automatically and take steps to reduce the same long lines that the GOP claims to relish.
The other day I posted this: Charlie Crist to join the Democratic Party. On three… 1… 2… Meh!I was greeted with some rather unkind remarks on Twitter for that opinion. “He’ll fall in line! We should be welcoming him in!” they bellowed. (Well, as much as anyone can “bellow” on Twitter.)
But I did welcome him in, just not enthusiastically. Why? Because I don’t trust him; he comes off as just a tad opportunistic. I repeat:
He has a mixed record on gay issues. He supported school vouchers and a constitutional amendment for school prayer, was rated A- by the NRA, “indicating a pro-gun rights voting record.” Here is his past history on more issues. He’s fine on some things, but he’s such a flip-flopper… that his political gymnastics simply leave me cold.
If he ran for Florida governor, would he be an improvement over Rick Scott? Just about anybody would be. So welcome to the party, Charlie, but all I can muster up at this point is a rather muted “meh.”
Just now Crist was on “Hardball” where Chris Matthews was grilling him on what kind of Democrat he’d really be. Here’s what he said about his transformation:
“The party’s changed.” So when asked if he has changed, he answered by saying it was all the GOP leadership’s fault (because of their positions on deportation, voter suppression). He said that the turning point for him was 2 or 3 years ago when he became an independent. “It became uncomfortable” for him to stay in the Republican party.
Indeed, because he couldn’t win a Senate primary against Marco Rubio.
He went on to say he’s a “live & let live kind of guy… compassionate, kind. Do unto others, reach out, we’re all in this together.”
And he claims he’s absolutely “fine with” unions and no longer supports school vouchers. “I’m a public school kid,” says he… now.
On immigration, he told Chris Matthews that he’s in favor of a pathway to citizenship because his grandfather was an immigrant. Matthews asked him, what about the tough stuff like enforcement? His answer: “I don’t know. I’ll be guided by my heart, my upbringing, common sense.”
Matthews, listening to these responses and sounding a little incredulous, said, “That’s quite a switch.”
Crist ended the segment by sharing that he’s “more comfortable with the Democratic party than he was in the Republican party or being an Independent.”
And after that aired, BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynski linked to the following:
So IMHO, Charlie Crist will have to do more to convince me he’s a “real Dem” than to say he’s a “live & let live kind of guy guided by his heart.” The last time someone tried to convince everyone he was a moderate, he won one debate and then lost a presidential election.
Now watch Democrats drool and slobber all over him. Sorry fellow Dems, but I won’t be one of them:
(CNN) – Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who served his state as a Republican then sought office as an independent, tweeted Friday night that he switched his party affiliation to Democrat. [...]
“I’ve had friends for years tell me, ‘You know Charlie, you’re a Democrat and you know it,‘” Crist told the Tampa Bay Times newspaper.
The question is, what kind of Democrat? Color me skeptical.
He has a mixed record on gay issues. He supported school vouchers and a constitutional amendment for school prayer, was rated A- by the NRA, “indicating a pro-gun rights voting record.” Here is his past history on more issues. He’s fine on some things, but he’s such a flip-flopper, such an opportunist, that his political gymnastics simply leave me cold.
If he ran for Florida governor, would he be an improvement over Rick Scott? Just about anybody would be.
So welcome to the party, Charlie, but all I can muster up at this point is a rather muted “meh.” At best.
“This is America, not a third-world country,” said Myrna Peralta, who waited in line with her 4-year-old grandson for nearly two hours before being turned away. “They should have been prepared.”
Florida Governor Rick Scott did everything he could to remove people from the rolls by purging voters. That lovely gesture resulted in several lawsuits against his administration. Early voting days were also cut, from fourteen to eight, which severely reduced voter registration by organizations like the League of Women Voters. One guess who was disproportionately affected. Hint: Minority voters.
Greer has been accused of stealing a couple of hundred thou from the Republican party using a phony campaign fundraising operation. But the Palm Beach Post is reporting that he is suing them right back, saying GOP leaders knew what he was doing and voiced no objection, plus this:
A new Florida law that contributed to long voter lines and caused some to abandon voting altogether was intentionally designed by Florida GOP staff and consultants to inhibit Democratic voters, former GOP officials and current GOP consultants have told The Palm Beach Post.
Republican leaders said in proposing the law that it was meant to save money and fight voter fraud. But a former GOP chairman and former Gov. Charlie Crist, both of whom have been ousted from the party, now say that fraud concerns were advanced only as subterfuge for the law’s main purpose: GOP victory.
Then-Governor Charlie Crist had extended early voting hours by executive order because of the long lines during the 2008 presidential election. He says he told GOP consultants and staffers that he would veto any proposed legislative changes that would reduce early voting.
That was then.
“The people that worked in Tallahassee felt that early voting was bad, ” Crist said. “And I heard about it after I signed the executive order expanding it. I heard from Republicans around the state who were bold enough to share it with me that, ‘You just gave the election to Barack Obama.’”
And then Rick Scott got his grubby hands on Florida, and we saw how that turned out. Of course now he’s batting his angelic eyes and asking Secretary of State Ken Detzner to check into all those nasty November election issues. Imagine that.
Here’s more from Greer:
“There is absolutely nothing with their absolute obsession with retaining power that they wouldn’t do — changing the election laws to reduce early voting, to keep organizations like the League of Women Voters from registering people, going after the Supreme Court justices.”
But there’s also something Floridians can do: Vote the bums out.
Oh my, Charlie’s getting all his D gear together and getting back into the pool it seems.
TAMPA – Florida’s former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist will be a speaker at the Democratic National Convention.
An official with President Barack Obama’s campaign said Sunday that Crist will speak at next week’s convention in Charlotte, N.C., but the days hasn’t been worked out.
(snip)
Crist announced Sunday that he is endorsing Obama. Republicans called the decision political opportunism and pointed out Crist has previously criticized the president on issues like his health care overhaul.
Crist changed his voter registration to no party affiliation after he dropped out of the 2010 Republican Senate primary and ran as an independent. Many speculate that he will return to politics as a Democrat and possibly challenge his Republican successor, Rick Scott.
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