Florida Republicans have been flattering themselves since we got rid of Jeb with claims of how much everyone loves Gov. Charlie Crist. Everyone, they mean, including Democrats. Speaking for all Florida Democrats, which of course I can’t but that’s never stopped me, we aren’t feeling it.
Yes, we’re glad (giddy!) that Jeb is no longer in Tallahassee, trying to ram taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools down our throats; or privatizing state government by handing puffy, fluffy contracts to buddies, and in some cases, his brothers; or using standarized testing to remove the educational element from education. In fact, I pinch myself every now and then just to make sure I’m not dreaming.
And yes, we’re happy that Charlie says he cares about the environment, and how much we pay for homeowners insurance, and lots of other things that he has yet to do much about. He says the right words, and we like that.
But none of this means that if John McCain were to pick Charlie Crist as his running mate that we’d vote for them.
…a new Miami Herald poll shows that most Florida Democrats aren’t grabbing hold.
Eighty-one percent are unlikely to support the presumptive GOP nominee in November, according to the statewide survey of 600 Democrats.
An even larger majority — 87 percent — say their decision wouldn’t change even if McCain picked Republican Gov. Charlie Crist as his running mate.
McCain is widely viewed as needing to balance his ticket with someone younger. That shouldn’t be hard, since most people are younger than McCain.
“I know one thing about Gov. Crist and that is that he is a great governor and does a great job,” [McCain said.] I also know he committed to serve the state of Florida when he ran for governor of the state of Florida…He’s still a very young man.”
The shoddy treatment of Florida Democrats by the Howard Dean-led Democratic National Committee, not the choice of a running mate, is even more of a factor in this year’s election. Polls show that slightly more Florida Democrats are willing to vote for a Republican this time than they were in 2004, when Bush ran for re-election.
The 16 percent of Florida Democrats who say they might vote for McCain isn’t far off from the estimated 14 percent who supported Bush in 2004, when he won the state.
I’m not kidding.
Straight from the Karl Rove Handbook: When you can’t defend yourself, change the topic and attack. Typical –and coming from someone who only comments anonymously, too, rich in hypocrisy.
But since you offer only broadsides but no defense of your defenseless actions, we’ll stipulate that you agree that you are a liar and a Stalinist, and now we’ll add hypocrite.