Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - "Our political system is broken": Crist quits the GOP in his run for the Senate

Baraka_Guru · 04-30-2010, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Centrist Florida governor falls through the cracks of a deeply divided GOP

Konrad Yakabuski

Washington — From Friday's Globe and Mail Published on Friday, Apr. 30, 2010 4:55AM EDT Last updated on Friday, Apr. 30, 2010 10:30AM EDT

It’s Ross Perot in reverse.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist’s move to quit the Republican Party to run as an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate this fall illustrates just how far the GOP has swung right since Mr. Perot ran for president in 1992.

Back then, Mr. Perot, the hard-right outsider, drained the vote of conservatives who thought the Republicans had moved too far toward the mushy middle. Now, it’s the centrist Mr. Crist who is being chased from a GOP that has fallen under the spell of Tea Party purists.

The end result could be the same, as an ideological schism splits the Republican vote in November’s midterm congressional election.

Mr. Crist, who launched his campaign Thursday as the “people’s candidate” for the prized Florida seat, had been trailing badly in the Republican primary race that pitted him against Tea Party favourite Marco Rubio.

“I haven’t supported an idea because it's a Republican idea or it's a Democratic idea. I support ideas that I believe are good ideas for the people,” Mr. Crist charged, insisting that his decision to bolt the party “says more about our nation and our state than it does about me.”

Mr. Crist’s independent candidacy sets the stage for a three-way Senate race with Mr. Rubio, who is now assured of the GOP nomination, and Kendrick Meek, the expected Democratic candidate. A safe Republican seat is suddenly in play with Mr. Crist the favourite to win.

A similar dynamic to the Rubio-Crist duel is unfolding in Republican primaries across the country, as hard-right candidates harness the anger of Tea Party newcomers to recast the party as a radical anti-government formation.

In Senate primaries in Kentucky, Arizona and Colorado, middle-of-the-road GOP stalwarts are seriously threatened by upstarts who would have been dismissed as fringe candidates not long ago.

The GOP has been a sitting duck for such a right-wing takeover, since its ranks were decimated during George W. Bush’s final years in office. But in their quest for purity, the new-breed Republicans may also sacrifice winnability.

“This is potentially very problematic for the Republican Party,” University of Florida political science professor Daniel Smith warned in an interview. “By embracing the far right candidate it could be very difficult for them to win in a general election.”

The 53-year-old Mr. Crist, a George Hamilton doppelganger who is a walking billboard for Coppertone, was first elected governor in 2006 and immediately began infuriating Republican hard-liners.

He revoked almost 300 nominations made by his GOP predecessor Jeb Bush, required paper records of all ballots (to avoid a repeat of the presidential 2000 election fiasco in Florida) and extended voting hours in 2008 – all measures favoured by Democrats.

Yes, he opposed gay marriage – a position that earned him an attempted “outing” in the 2009 documentary Outrage – and appointed conservative, anti-abortion judges to the Florida Supreme Court.

But that was not enough, in Republican eyes, to compensate for his biggest sin – embracing President Barack Obama (literally) and endorsing his $787-billion (U.S.) stimulus plan in early 2009.

It was no bear hug – more like an awkward man-embrace as the two gripped each other’s arms as they shook hands. But “the hug” launched the primary career of Mr. Rubio, the 38-year-old son of Cuban exiles and former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, as he seized on the stimulus package, the record federal deficit, bank bailouts and health-care reform as symbols of government gone awry.

“He will certainly have plenty of money,” Florida State University political science professor Robert Crew said of Mr. Rubio. “He will also have the Republican Party get-out-the-vote apparatus on his side and it has traditionally been one of the best in the country.”

There are signs Mr. Rubio may temper his politics to broaden his appeal. He came out this week against a controversial new Arizona law aimed at cracking down on illegal immigrants. While his Latino roots may have something to do with that, the move was unpopular with some of his Tea Party supporters.

“If he moves to the centre he risks alienating the same people who brought him to the dance,” Prof. Smith opined.

Mr. Crist has also been doing some repositioning. Two weeks ago, he vetoed a state bill that would have eliminated job security for teachers and linked their salaries to student performance on standardized test scores. The move ingratiated him to the teachers’ union, which has been running TV ads thanking him.

Mr. Crist’s decision to slam the door on his party, however self-interested, should be a wake-up call to Republicans across the country as they contemplate how to regain control of Congress and the White House.

“I can confirm what most Floridians already know,” Mr. Crist asserted in announcing his split from the GOP. “Our political system is broken.''

Well, maybe not the system. More like one of its parties.

Centrist Florida governor falls through the cracks of a deeply divided GOP - The Globe and Mail

So Florida Governor Charlie Crist has quit the Republican Party to run as an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate.

What do you think of this move?

Is it indicative of how the Republicans have swung further right, as the article implies?

It also suggests that this is an indication of how the Republicans have been swayed by the Tea Party movement, and that Crist's move is a way to distance himself from it.

Do you think this will lead to further fragmentation within the Republican party?

Do you think the party has moved further to the right?

How far do you think it will go? How will the Republicans sell themselves in future elections?

Is the political system broken, or is it merely the Republican party?