Free Republic

Yesterday on Laura IngrahamÂ’s radio show, she asked Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell about a recent Roll Call article that framed me as one of the loud leaders of conservatives opposed to Mitch McConnell. The Senator from Kentucky responded that he had never heard of me and I did not have an audience. That sounds a bit like the child, when asked if he ate the cookie, replying that he had not and besides it did not taste good. If heÂ’d never heard of me, how can he comment on my audience? If he states plainly I have no audience,...

George LeMieux has two big problems to overcome in his campaign to become the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate. One is Connie Mack, and the other is Charlie Crist. LeMieux has taken a lot of heat in this race because he was Crist's strategist and helped guide him into the governor's office. That is a legitimate concern for conservatives, but I don't put a lot of stock in that criticism because, as a former political consultant, I know it's incredibly rare for a consultant to agree with his client about everything. The relationship, no matter how close, is fraught...

Jacksonville, Fla. — Former Florida governor Jeb Bush tells National Review Online that Newt Gingrich should stop insinuating that Mitt Romney aides, due to their past work for Charlie Crist, are part of a moderate GOP conspiracy. Earlier this week, for example, Gingrich told supporters that Romney hired Crist staffers, and emphasized the significance of this fact. “We discovered last night that Mitt Romney has picked up Charlie Crist’s campaign manager,” Gingrich said. “I thought that told you everything you need to know about this primary.” “That’s not a serious accusation,” Bush says. “Candidates win elections. I’m not a big Charlie...

Popular former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is predicting that the makeup of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s inner circle of advisers, which includes several strategists who ran former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s ill-fated Senate campaign against conservative standard-bearer Marco Rubio, will hurt Romney’s image with Florida voters. In an exclusive Newsmax interview Monday evening, McCollum said Sunshine State voters “will not be favorably inclined to that, because most Republican primary voters in Florida know that Charlie Crist flopped on them. He went over to the Democrats’ side … it just wasn’t the same Charlie Crist they thought they’d elected.”...

As Mitt Romney puts the South Carolina primary in his rear-view mirror and hits the accelerator in a bid to win Florida, he may discover himself crashing headlong into the bitter legacy of Charlie Crist, the former Florida governor who defected from the GOP and was soundly defeated for the U.S. Senate by Marco Rubio. Romney’s “Charlie Crist” problem is this: Romney’s chief campaign strategist and several of his most senior campaign staff were Crist’s top political advisers — the same ones who crafted Crist’s moderate, ignore-the-tea-party strategy epitomized in Crist’s famous “hug” of President Barack Obama. That strategy led...

As Mitt Romney puts the South Carolina primary in his rear-view mirror and hits the accelerator in a bid to win Florida, he may discover himself crashing headlong into the bitter legacy of Charlie Crist, the former Florida governor who defected from the GOP and was soundly defeated for the U.S. Senate by Marco Rubio. Romney’s “Charlie Crist” problem is this: Romney’s chief campaign strategist and several of his most senior campaign staff were Crist’s top political advisers — the same ones who crafted Crist’s moderate, ignore-the-tea-party strategy epitomized in Crist’s famous “hug” of President Barack Obama. That strategy led...

Sarah Rumpf helped facilitate Florida state Rep. Scott Plakon’s endorsement of Herman Cain, which in turn helped Cain score his crushing upset of Texas Gov. Rick Perry in Saturday’s Orlando “Presidency5″ straw poll. Today, I spoke at length with “Sunshine State Sarah” to get the backstory of that endorsement, and she pointed out a little-noticed aspect of Perry’s humiliating defeat. “Perry hired a lot of the Charlie Crist people,” she said, referring to former aides to the permatanned ex-RINO governor who got crushed in last year’s Tea Party uprising that sent Marco Rubio to the Senate. Among the Perry campaign’s...

Crazy as it may sound, many of the savviest political minds in Florida think Charlie Crist will run for governor in 2014. Yep, Charlie Crist, the fellow who walked away from the governorship in 2010 only to see his political prospects implode. Remember, this is Florida politics, where anything can happen. The St. Petersburg Times' latest Insider Poll surveyed 98 people immersed in Florida politics - consultants, lobbyists, fundraisers, activists -  and 49 percent predicted Crist would run, including 56 percent of the Democratic insider and 45 percent of the Republicans. No, it's not a majority, but it's nonetheless astounding...

2011 is just a few days old and the 2012 election rumor mill has already kicked into high gear. Beyond the usual speculation surrounding Sarah Palin, Beltway gossips have been talking up Jon Huntsman, President Obama's ambassador to China, as his strongest potential GOP rival next year. But the Obama ticket itself isn't immune from the scuttlebutt: A Florida blogger is predicting Obama will ditch his current vice president, Joe Biden, for outgoing Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican-turned-independent. Is this worth taking seriously? Short answer — No: The notion that a president will switch his vice president midstream is...

If only this were a coalition of the left and the right working out differences. But alas, it’s just a coalition of mostly liberal politicians who used to label themselves by a political party and now would rather fly stealth. Sigh. If you are not familiar with “No Lables”, no worries, it’s brand new and they certainly deserve a Hat Tip for brevity. Here’s their declaration: We are not labels – we are people. We care deeply about our country. We are frustrated and concerned about the tone of politics. We are passionate about addressing America’s challenges. We are Democrats,...

Centrist Senate Republicans are likely to get a new ally in Sen.-elect Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), according to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).

Rocker Jim Morrison Could Join List of Infamous Musical Pardons Florida Gov. Charlie Crist may consider clearing name of Doors front man. By Ben Terris Monday, November 8, 2010 | 1:56 p.m. TheSmokingGun.com/Dade County Public Safety Department The Doors frontman posed for this 1970 mugshot after being charged with indecent exposure at a Miami concert the year before. Outgoing Florida Gov. Charlie Crist may soon be part of a great tradition in the exercise of executive power: pardoning rock stars. Crist told The Hill that he was considering a posthumous pardon for Doors front man Jim Morrison, who was charged...

The Florida legislature will not likely consider holding a vote this month to potentially override the veto from Governor Charlie Crist of a pro-life bill.Crist vetoed a measure that would allow the state to opt out of the abortion funding under the ObamaCare bill and would allow women a chance to see an ultrasound of their unborn child prior to an abortion.Abortion centers routinely perform ultrasounds before abortions and the bill would give women the opportunity to view it, as such centers don’t normally provide it — even though they include the cost in the price of the abortion.Senate...

Here is video of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist conceding defeat in the U.S. Senate race there to Republican Marco Rubio. Crist lost by a wide margin, after deciding to run as an Independent because he could not defeat Rubio in the GOP Primary. I don’t think I have seen a politician act in the course of a year more shamelessly than Charlie Crist has this year. He has alienated both Republicans and Democrats with his one obvious priority – himself. In the end, he lost a whole lot more than the U.S. Senate seat

Today’s election will be as full of surprises as the whole campaign season. Meghan McCain gives her surprising predictions—and says Obama and the country gets what it deserves. The whole country is waiting, ironically enough, for the change that will be coming in today’s election. Extreme change, in a drastically different direction that what just two short years ago Obama was voted into office to bring. This change, depending on how big a win Republicans have tomorrow, is a direct result and slap in the face to all Democrats still thinking that the Obama administration could continue on as they...

A top advisor to Crist said he would caucus with the Democrats if he wins the Florida Senate race, now Charlie is not only trying to cut a deal with Kendrick Meek, he's openly lifting lines from Barack Obama speeches. Charlie Crist at the Florida Education Association friday (Video)

This voicemail sounds like Charlie wants to meet with Kendrick Meek for a specific purpose, why would he be leaving a message on Kendrick's phone? A deal in the works for Kendrick to get out of the race? This was Monday morning (Audio)

Hi there! This is Governor Charlie Crist with an important message for all Florida voters. However, before I get to the message, I wish to take this opportunity to dispel ugly rumors that have been circulating about me.Just to make it very clear from the start, I am NOT gray! I am not gray; I never have been gray. The misunderstanding began with a hairdresser that I met at the Green Iguana bar who accompanied me home. The hairdresser expressed admiration for my deep tan and insisted upon rubbing my bronzed skin with some soft lotion upon entering my...

The controversy over whether Bill Clinton urged Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek to drop out of the Florida Senate race in order to help Gov. Charlie Crist has caused an understandable wave of interest in the race. All sorts of questions are now being asked about what happened, who was involved, and whether Meek was actually on the cusp of withdrawing. The more apt question, though, is whether it would have mattered. Let's take a look at what polling data tells us on that question. The last pollster to look at a Rubio-Crist matchup without Meek was the automated and Democratic-leaning...

Two years after Florida helped elect the nation's first black president, Charlie Crist's unrelenting drive to win a Senate seat at the expense of a black Democrat and a Hispanic Republican has forced tender racial sensitivities back to the surface of Sunshine State politics. Crist was involved in getting President Bill Clinton to persuade Democratic nominee Kendrick Meek to drop his own bid and endorse Crist in an effort to deny Republican Marco Rubio the Senate seat. Sources told POLITICO that Meek signaled that he would drop out of the race — twice — before backtracking, a characterization that Meek...

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist would caucus with Senate Democrats if he wins Florida’s three-way U.S. Senate contest on Tuesday, a close advisor told Washington Wire Friday. That’s a big “if.” Mr. Crist is trailing Republican candidate Marco Rubio in most polls. But the declaration by Florida trial lawyer John Morgan sheds light on one of the many mysteries in the Bill Clinton-Charlie Crist-Kendrick Meek imbroglio. “Crist is going to caucus with the Democrats,” Mr. Morgan said. “I don’t think there’s any ifs, ands or buts about it. It would be, in a very tight year, almost like a Democratic pickup...

I think this is going to be my last Crist post of the year, guys. I can’t deal with it anymore. Even a devout cynic can only take so much. Mr. Crist, the Florida governor, had called Mr. Meek, a Miami congressman, earlier that morning, about 4:50 a.m., leaving a voice mail asking if they could meet up at the AIPAC gathering. “I’ll call you later this morning and see if we can work out a time to get together just you and me,” Mr. Crist said in the voice mail, which was played for Washington Wire by Mr. Meek....

Republican Marco Rubio now enjoys a 20-point advantage over Independent candidate Charlie Crist in the U.S. Senate race in Florida, with Democratic Congressman Kendrick Meek still running third. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the Sunshine State finds Rubio picking up 50% of the vote, while Crist, Florida's current GOP governor, receives 30% support. Meek picks up 16% support, his worst showing since early July. One percent (1%) prefers some other candidate, and another three percent (3%) are still undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) This race remains Solid Republican in the Rasmussen Reports...

Making the rounds on several television network news shows on Friday morning, Democrat Kendrick Meek lashed out at independent Charlie Crist for fueling what he called false rumors that former President Bill Clinton had asked him to drop out of the Senate race. ``[Clinton] didn't ask me to drop out of the race,'' Meek told Fox & Friends. He said that longtime political mentor had asked him last week about ``rumors'' that he might possibly withdraw from the race. Meek said he told Clinton that he was not going to bow out of the race. ```That's your decision,''' Meek recalled...

With just weeks before the election and Republican candidate Marco Rubio already finalizing plans to make it rain at his victory party, some had rumored out loud that the Democrats might consider dropping out of the race to give independent Charlie Crist a fighting chance at the U.S. Senate seat. Not gonna happen. Democrat candidate Kendrick Meek made it crystal clear that he is going nowhere, both in the polls and as far as leaving the Senate race is concerned. "I'm not going anywhere except the United States Senate," Meek released in a statement today. "Because if they want to...

The race for the U.S. Senate in Florida continues to be all about Governor Charlie Crist and former state House Speaker Marco Rubio, regardless of which Democrat they face. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Florida shows Rubio with 38% of the vote and Crist at 33% if Congressman Kendrick Meek is the nominee. Meek earns 21%. Only one percent (1%) prefer some other candidate, and seven percent (7%) are undecided. If billionaire Jeff Greene is the Democratic candidate, Crist gets 37% support to Rubio’s 36%, with Greene trailing at 20%. two percent (2%) like another...

It appears that newly Independent Senate candidate Charlie Crist may find support from key Democrats, including the Obama White House and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Crist announced April 28 that he is breaking away from the Republican Party to run for the U.S. Senate as an Independent. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid placed a call to Crist last week. Reid has refused to say what they discussed, but the Journal says that "some Crist allies are taking it as a sign of cooperation to come." Also, sources say the White House has...

There are going to be a lot of races this year where a Republican leaning third party candidate would do Democrats a lot of good. The Florida Senate race is not going to be one of them. If Charlie Crist's independent run has any impact on Kendrick Meek's chances of winning it's likely to be negative. Here are three reasons why: -In a hypothetical three way contest last month we found Crist winning 32% of Obama voters but only 22% of McCain voters. Even before making his departure from the Republican Party a reality he was pulling more from likely...

Broward Politics Meek says he's staying in Senate race By Russell Small October 28, 2010 10:17 PM Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek denied reports by the Washington, D.C., political website Politico that former President Bill Clinton tried to convince him to drop out of the race and endorse independent Charlie Crist. “President Clinton did not ask me to drop out of the race,” Meek said at a hastily called press conference Thursday night at his campaign headquarters in Miami Gardens. “No one has called to ask me to drop out.”

“I think everybody on the planet understands the Republican Party has gone hard right.” - Charlie Crist Really? Haven’t we heard this argument before? Over and over again since the time of Reagan. Didn’t the squishes, the media, and GOP defectors to Obama say the same thing two years ago when McCain (McCain of all people), the squishiest of the squishes and famed for his “moderation,” was the Republican nominee for president? Such rhetoric seems to be owned by those who are frightened to take a strong stand on the issues of the day, mere opportunists, the media in their...

Bill Clinton sought to persuade Rep. Kendrick Meek to drop out of the race for Senate during a trip to Florida last week — and nearly succeeded. Meek agreed — twice — to drop out and endorse Gov. Charlie Crist’s independent bid in a last-ditch effort to stop Marco Rubio, the Republican nominee who stands on the cusp of national stardom. Meek, a staunch Clinton ally from Miami, has failed to broaden his appeal around the state and is mired in third place in most public polls, with a survey today showing him with just 15 percent of the vote....

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/44337.html

Gov. Charlie Crist (I-FL) tells FOX News he spoke to someone at the White House about the idea of getting Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL) to drop out of the race for U.S. Senate. GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS: "Did you speak to anybody at the White House?" CHARLIE CRIST (I-FL): "Yes, I did. Subsequent to conversations with those close to Mr. Clinton." VAN SUSTEREN: "Who did you speak to at the White House?" CRIST: "I'm sorry?" VAN SUSTEREN: "Who did you speak to at the White House?" CRIST: "There were several people that I spoke with, again, there were several...

Miami Gardens, FL -- Kendrick Meek campaign manager Abe Dyk released the following statement regarding the Politico article. "The article is not true. Kendrick Meek was never dropping out of this race, is never dropping out of this race, and will never drop out of this race. Kendrick Meek will always stand up for the middle class and will not leave Floridians a choice between two lifelong conservative Republicans who only stand with the special interests. Kendrick is the Democratic nominee so if anyone should drop out, it's Charlie Crist."

A Florida Senate committee has recommended making it tougher for political candidates to switch or leave parties in mid-campaign, a move spurred by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's bolt from the Republican Party to run as an independent for U.S. Senate. The Florida Senate Ethics and Elections Committee also calls for a "sore-loser statute" that would prohibit party-affiliated candidates who lose a primary from re-entering the race as in independent. "The issue is whether Florida law regarding candidates who change political parties while running for office is unambiguous and expansive enough to promote the state's interests in political stability and maintaining...

"I've never had a heckler at the debate; I've always had them in the audience," Marco Rubio (R-FL) jokingly said after Charlie Crist (I-FL) continued to interrupt him during his time in the debate. "I apologize, I have this heckler going on for two minutes now," Rubio said as Crist continued. Another item to note during the debate: "Facts change all the time," Crist oddly said during the debate.

How do we know Charlie Crist has fully transformed into a Democrat? He set himself up as the authority on Hispanic authenticity in the debate with Marco Rubio and Kendrick Meek last night on the Tampa Bay Fox affiliate. In fact, Crist goes so far that the other Democrat in the race winds up objecting to the attack after Marco Rubio’s strong rebuttal. Crist attempts to scold Rubio for “turning his back on his Hispanic family,� and then tries to weasel out of it by saying he just read it in a newspaper: It’s bad enough playing identity politics when...

In a bruising Senate debate, independent candidate Gov. Charlie Crist brought up that Republican Marco Rubio has "turned his back" on his Hispanic family. Crist threw the jab citing a newspaper article about Rubio's stance on immigration. The claim came during a televised between Florida state Speaker Rubio, Crist, and Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek, set to air on the FOX Tampa affiliate WTVT at 6:30pm ET Friday. "These are their [the newspaper's] words, not mine speaker, that you have turned your back on your Hispanic family, and they think that is inexcusable," Crist said. Rubio, who is of Cuban heritage...

Tallahassee, FL (LifeNews.com) -- Charlie Crist is up with a new television commercial in the Florida Senate race that attacks pro-life Republican opponent Marco Rubio's pro-life views. The ad essentially is the final confirmation that Crist has abandoned any pretense of holding a pro-life position on abortion. "I'm fighting to stop Marco Rubio's extremist agenda to roll back Roe v. Wade and cut your Social Security," Crist says in the commercial.The reference is made to the Supreme Court decision that allowed virtually unlimited abortions throughout pregnancy and has resulted in more than 52 million abortions since 1973.Crist's ad will...

The bloodletting in Palm Beach is under way. Earlier today, Palm Beach County Commissioners Burt Aaronson and Shelley Vana endorsed Gov. Charlie Crist for Senate, backing him over Democratic Congressman Kendrick Meek. Then Vana went even further, asking Meek, who is mired in third place behind Crist and frontrunner Marco Rubio, to get out of the race. “I respectfully ask Congressman Meek — whom I love — to take one for the team,” Vana told the Palm Beach Post. “While we love Kendrick, at some point Kendrick has to know there’s a greater good here.” Crist, who yesterday got the...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is endorsing Gov. Charlie Crist in his independent candidacy for the Senate. Crist is expected to receive the endorsement this morning at an event with voters in Deerfield Beach.

"I endorse Gov @charliecristfl for Senate. Great leader, works with both parties, and our country needs someone like him in DC right now."

Well, they did stop short of presenting him with a ceremonial seppuku sword . . . But other than that, MSNBC's Daily Rundown duo of Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie did their best to convince Florida Dem Kendreck Meek to get out of the senatorial race to give Charlie Crist a shot against Marco Rubio. Todd tried the cold-hard-numbers route, while Guthrie made an emotional appeal, literally asking Meek if he "can live" with himself if his continued candidacy resulted in the election of Rubio. View video here.

Nearly half of sexually active homosexual men infected with the virus causing AIDS are unaware that they are carriers of the deadly disease, according to a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The now released CDC study of 21 U.S. metropolitan areas in 2008 found that out of 8,153 sexually active homosexual and bisexual men, one out of five (1562) tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Of those infected, 44 percent (680) were unaware that they were carrying – and, by implication, spreading – HIV. The CDC says that men who have sex with men...

"Studly" Charlie Crist throwing the first pitch....lol. DIRECT LINK

Republican Marco Rubio "is in the catbird's seat" in the race for Florida's U.S. Senate seat, with Gov. Charlie Crist stalled in second and Democrat Kendrick Meek lagging even further behind in third, according to a Mason-Dixon poll released Thursday. Rubio has pushed his lead to 15 percentage points, attracting 42 percent of voters, compared with 27 percent for Crist, an independent, and 21 percent for Meek, the poll showed. Ten percent of voters remain undecided. If Rubio can stay above 40 percent, it will be difficult for Crist or Meek to catch him, said Mason-Dixon pollster Brad Coker. "Most...

An Opa Locka elementary school teacher is in adult time out for chasing her husband with a kitchen knife. Lisbet Borrell, 41, has been charged with aggravated assault for not playing well with others, namely her husband of 24 years. According to the police report, Borrell and her hubby, Osvaldo, got into a heated argument over their relationship Monday night at their Hialeah home when things escalated. Borrell reportedly yelled in Spanish, "I'm going to stab you," as the couple's two children watched on. Borrell's daughter grabbed her mom, allowing the man to escape outside of the home. But that...

How embarrassing is it when a senatorial candidate sits down with your own editorial board and issues a statement so absurdly mendacious that the video clip of the "Pinocchio moment" becomes a big hit in the blogosphere yet your own story about the interview completely misses it? Such was the case with the Palm Beach Post. Charlie Crist sat down for an hour long interview with its editorial board and declared that he would still have left the Republican party even if polls had shown that he was running 20 points ahead of Marco Rubio in the race for the...

A real short clip of Crist talking to the Palm Beach Post editorial board, one person asks, "If you were up 20 points up over Mr. Rubio would you have left the party to run as an Independent?" (Video)

Despite some fool with his car alarm blaring in the background, in this video it is quite clear that Charlie “Fliparoo” Crist is claiming that the voters can trust him because he’s not going to “change my stripes.” Of course, he said this not long before he “changed” his Senate run from Republican to a sudden “independent,” too… but, hey, consistency is overrated anyway, right? See the video at Publiusforum.com...