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The message to former Gov. Charlie Crist from good friend and confidante Jim Greer was ominous-sounding: “Listen I just wanted to call and tell you something as a man, not like these other people that have put knives in your back and never had the courtesy of calling you directly or talking to you.” Just about a year after Greer was indicted on felony charges of organized fraud, theft and money laundering, Crist found the voice mail and a text message on his cell phone from the former chair of the Republican Party of Florida. To Crist, it sounded like...

"In a rare television interview, former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist -- who left the Republican Party during his unsuccessful 2010 U.S. Senate bid -- told Chuck Todd on MSNBC's "Daily Rundown" that he'd consider voting for President Obama in November."

In a rare television interview, former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist -- who left the Republican Party during his unsuccessful 2010 U.S. Senate bid -- told Chuck Todd on MSNBC's "Daily Rundown" that he'd consider voting for President Obama in November. “Consider? Sure, I would consider that,” said Crist. “I really think he’s sincere and genuine. I think we have a lot time, a lot of issues to talk about, but I think, in his heart, he’s trying to do what’s right for the country overall.” Now a registered independent, Crist said he also wouldn't rule out running for office as...

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...

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...

Florida Governor Charlie Crist says the state is investigating whether thousands of felons are on the voting rolls who shouldn’t be. Last year the state cabinet voted to automatically restore the civil rights of more than 130,000 non-violent offenders. A recent newspaper investigation found 30,000 felons who are still banned from voting are registered to cast ballots on Election Day. Governor Charlie Crist says he has confidence that Secretary of State Kurt Browning will handle the problem. "One of the things we’ve try to do, and I think successfully, is have former felons have the ability to vote much sooner...

With higher favorables than Marco Rubio or Bill Nelson, ex-gov could have future ... as a Democrat

Charlie Crist, the former Republican governor of Florida and friend of Scott Rothstein, has an interesting new pursuit: attorney and television spokesman for Morgan & Morgan, a personal-injury firm in the state that uses the tag line, “for the people.”

They may have been Election Day disappointments, but former Gov. Charlie Crist and ex-CFO Alex Sink aren’t going away. They’re joining a bipartisan group of legislators tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. in front of the Old Capitol to announce their support for a constitutional ban on oil exploration and drilling in state waters.

Former Gov. Charlie Crist (I-Fla.) will join the law firm Morgan & Morgan. Crist, who decided to run for Senate first as a Republican and then an independent but was defeated by Marco Rubio, will officially join the large trial law firm this Friday according to the Orlando Sentinel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeApP0G7e_I Clear as Day. Trump is a huge Palin fan.

n spite of assertions made to the contrary by Vice President Joe Biden, speculation continues to swirl around the possibility that President Obama will replace Biden on the 2012 Presidential ticket for someone with less of a propensity for gaffes as well as for a younger and more ‘moderate’ candidate in order to appeal to the thousands of disenfranchised ‘Independents’ across the country. If Obama really is intent on throwing Biden under the bus, I would not be surprised if he chooses none other than the tanned and ‘Independent’ one himself, Charlie Crist. Many will no doubt think that this...

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,...

A new political organization is looking to give the political left and right a run for their money. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an Independent, is joining a number of other Independents, Democrats and Republicans in launching “No Labels,” a group that hopes to solve some of the nation’s largest problems with non-partisan solutions.Besides Bloomberg, among those participating in the kick-off: Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Indiana; Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York; Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia; Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut; Reps. Mike Castle, R-Delaware and Bob Inglis, R-South Carolina; former Republican congressman Tom Davis and Republican Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who ran for...

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Charlie Crist dropped fresh hints about his future Thursday, saying he'll go home to St. Petersburg when his term ends next month and may join a national group that seeks alternatives to partisanship. Crist said he plans to go to New York City on Dec. 13 for the launch of No Labels, which advocates practical solutions to the nation's problems beyond party labels and has bipartisan support. A Crist friend and supporter, Democrat Nancy Jacobson, is a leader of the new group. [snip] Crist also said he's in "serious" talks with trial lawyer John Morgan about joining...

The time to hesitate is through, no time to wallow in the mire: Florida's outgoing governor wants to posthumously pardon rock 'n' roll wild man Jim Morrison, the lead singer of The Doors who was famously convicted of exposing himself at an anarchic 1969 concert in Miami. Gov. Charlie Crist, a 54-year-old baby boomer and Morrison fan whose favorite Doors song is "Light My Fire," said the evidence that Morrison unzipped his pants was flimsy and prosecutors were trying to make an example of the singer

Gov. Charlie Crist and Alex Sink will both be back in Tallahassee on Tuesday following their unsuccessful election bids....The governor ran with no party affiliation, but lost to Rubio by more than 1 million votes.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is said to be considering a posthumous pardon for Jim Morrison -- The Doors singer charged with indecent exposure in 1969 following a concert in Miami -- in the months remaining in his term, The Hill newspaper reported Monday.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says he has no regrets about quitting the Republican Party, despite his decisive defeat on Tuesday. In a phone interview with The Hill, Crist said he is proud of his Senate campaign and doesn’t regret his decision to challenge former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (R) as an independent candidate. The decision to bolt the GOP initially moved Crist past Rubio in the polls. That lead quickly eroded, however, and on Tuesday, Rubio crushed Crist and Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) with 49 percent of the vote, compared with 30 percent for Crist and 20 percent for...

*snip* Compare this with the House campaign body, the NRCC. After getting clobbered over the NY-23 race and Dede Scozzafava, the NRCC took a hands off approach and let local voters choose their candidates. Not the NRSC. It doubled up around the country igniting a civil war with the grassroots — a civil war that would have never happened but their getting into Florida and doubling down. The NRSC’s argument amounts to telling the world that voters exercising their right to pick their candidates are stupid and Jim DeMint is stupid for siding with the voters. One final thought —...

rubio

Gov. Charlie Crist is employing President Barack Obama's famous "Yes, we can" campaign slogan as he heads toward the finish line in Florida's three-way U.S. Senate race... At an early morning stop Sunday at a senior citizens facility, Crist responded "Yes, we can" after former state Rep. Addie Greene said the election was not about Republicans or Democrats, but moving Obama's agenda forward.

Look what you've wrought, Charlie Crist. Since that casual May 2009 e-mail announcing your candidacy for U.S. Senate, you've ripped apart the Florida GOP, and now it's dividing Florida Democrats. You've gone from national superstar and future presidential contender to someone banished from your lifelong party and fighting for political survival. Not to mention the trickle-down effect: Republican fixture Bill McCollum, poised to breeze into a second term as attorney general, is now through in politics; probably so is your lieutenant governor, Jeff Kottkamp; Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, the state Democratic Party's great hope, skipped re-election and is locked...

A voicemail from Gov. Charlie Crist to Democratic Senate candidate Kendrick Meek from earlier this week emerged on Saturday, suggesting Crist asked Meek to withdraw from the three-way race. The existence of the voicemail comes a day after questions arose about whether former President Bill Clinton pressured Meek to give up his bid and back Crist. Meek says Clinton discussed the topic but didn't press him to exit the race. Instead, Meek has said it was Crist who asked him to withdraw. In a voicemail message left for Meek by Crist at 5 a.m. Monday, Crist asks Meek to meet...

Why is this effort to get a legit Democratic Senate candidate Kendrick Meek to step down? It sure in the end is NOT going to help Charlie Crist of FL in his bid to become the USA Senator. Last time I checked, according to a Rasmussen Reports, in a telephone report of likely voters, Marco Rubio LEADS Charlie Crist, current GOP Governor of FL, Marco Rubio leads Charlie Crist, Rubio 50% to Crist 30%. CBS News Harry Smith interviews DNC Chairman Tim Kaine about this FL USA Senate race MESS between former President Bill Clinton and the FL Democratic Senate...

Florida independent Senate candidate Charlie Crist personally lobbied Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek to exit the race this week, offering him a cross that had been a gift from his sister, Mr. Meek said Friday. The gesture occurred Monday as Mr. Crist and Mr. Meek were surrounded by local Jewish leaders at a Hollywood, Fla., meeting of the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee. “I was shocked when he did it,” Mr. Meek said in an interview late Friday. “I told him to keep the cross and that I carry my Christianity in my heart.”

Election '10: An effort to force a black Democrat out of Florida's U.S. Senate race in favor of a white former Republican shows the Democrats' desperation to keep Senate control. It also speaks to their hypocrisy on race. As poll after poll suggests a tide of voter anger of almost biblical proportions will sweep Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her cadre of uberliberals out of control of the House of Representatives, eyes turn to the Senate where Majority Leader Harry Reid finds himself in peril and the majority he leads hangs in the balance. Leading the Tea Party-inspired populist revolt is...

Republican turn-coat Charlie Crist is well behind in all Senate polls in Florida. This comes after Crist repeatedly promised that he would drop out of the race should he lose the Republican nomination. He did lose, to Marco Rubio, but continued to run, infuriating voters. He is now down 20 points in the polls to Rubio. But apparently Crist believes that he has one more ace up his sleeve: kowtowing to Democrats. One of Crist's main advisors, John Morgon, explained that Crist no longer even thinks of voting with Republicans: “Crist is going to caucus with the Democrats. I don’t...

Yesterday on FoxNews I heard Geraldine Ferraro say that whoever coined the term ObamaCare was brilliant. She said it took all the negatives of the plan and tied it around Obama's neck. So I know my fellow Freepers will have the answer to the question "Who first coined the word "ObamaCare". Also, since the people clearly regard ObamaCare as negative, how are conservatives going to get us back to FreeMarket Health Care?

(CNBC Video) Airtime: Fri. Oct. 29 2010 | 10:35 AM ET A marathon campaign blitz is on the Sunshine State with five days to go before the election. CNBC's John Harwood discusses the race with Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla. (go to 6:22 on the vid for the best part of this piece where Jeb Bush rips Charlie Crisp a new one)

According to Sunshine State News' nightly tracking poll, in the U.S. Senate race independent Charlie Crist has lost 2 percentage points since the surveys began Oct. 13. Meanwhile, Republican Marco Rubio has padded his lead by 4 points and Democrat Kendrick Meek has picked up a point. Crist calls himself an "optimist," but his sunny disposition is being tested as never before. With Rubio running away with the race -- he holds a 47-27 lead over Crist -- the only real contest to be decided is who will finish in second place. The race for silver is getting tighter by...

Charlie Crist personally called a top adviser to Bill Clinton and asked if the former president would discuss with Kendrick Meek the possibility of dropping out of the Florida Senate race, according to a source close to Clinton. The revelation adds a bit more detail to a story breaking tonight that's roiling the Florida race. Politico's Ben Smith reported this evening that Clinton tried to persuade Meek to drop out of the race and almost succeeded. Meek has adamantly denied that he ever considered dropping out. According to a source close to Clinton, the former president's conversations with Meek were...

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.”

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."

The rumors have been swirling for months and have been denied multiple times but now it has been confirmed there was a plan by Democrats to persuade US Representative Kendrick Meek (D-Florida) to drop out of his Senate race and throw his support behind former Republican Charlie Crist. In the center of this desperate attempt to stave off the election of Republican Marco Rubio is former President Bill Clinton, the same bagman who offered an Obama administration job to Representative Joe Sestak (D-Pennsylvania) if he would drop out of his primary race against Senator Arlen Specter (D-Pennsylvania).

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....

Gov. Charlie Crist, who spent years telling folks he was a rock-ribbed Republican, makes a decidedly un-Republican like appearance tonight. He’ll be a guest on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, the MSNBC vehicle that makes conservatives’ blood boil. The appearance comes on the same day a Quinnipiac University poll shows Crist, who’s running as an independent, pulling within 7 percentage points of Republican Marco Rubio. Democrat Kendrick Meek has fallen to 15 percent, 27 points behind Rubio.hammer that argument home tonight with Olbermann.

"Down one road is extremism -- where Roe v. Wade is overturned and being a moderate is a curse" says Charlie Crist in his new ad. "That's the road Sarah Palin, the Tea Party and Marco Rubio want to take us down."

Charlie Crist's last-ditch attempt to convince voters that Marco Rubio is too extreme for Florida. He invokes Sarah Palin, a polarizing figure to be sure but also someone Crist stood with in campaigning for John McCain.

NAPLES — Florida’s Senate race continues to appear predictable, with Republican Marco Rubio putting a little more space between himself and his two main competitors as voting moves through its final 10 days. However, the contest remains too close for most experts to call. In the latest Naples Daily News/Zogby poll of likely voters released Monday, Rubio was favored by 39.6 percent, 6.3 percentage points better than Gov. Charlie Crist. The gap grew slightly from late September, when the Naples Daily News/Zogby first looked at the race.

This little 30 second clip is fantastic! During the most recent Florida Senate Debate, Marc Rubio was attempting to answer a question posed to him by the moderator. Just as he was geared up to get to his point, Crist would constantly interrupt and impose his own opinion. Rubio, in obvious frustration and with quick wit responds, “I’ve never had a heckler AT the debate- I’ve always had them in the audience!” Major score for Rubio and huge deductions for the moderator for allowing that kind of behavior from Crist to continue as long as it did. VIDEO

It's a campaign only Florida could produce -- a competitive three-way race for the United States Senate. According to an exclusive Bay News 9/St. Petersburg Times poll, the tables have turned for the candidates. A few months ago, Gov. Charlie Crist left the Republican party to become a non-party candidate. "We go straight to November," said Crist. By ditching the GOP, Crist skipped the primary and now faces two other major candidates -- Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek. An exclusive Bay News 9/St. Petersburg Times poll conducted in August, showed Crist leading with 33 percent, Rubio with 29...

It’s hard to debate your political opponents when you are also being forced to debate the debate moderator as Marc Rubio was forced to do; however, he pulled it off with style, with class, and with integrity. The Debate Moderator tried to pin the anti-Latino label on Rubio with a very long-winded question that sounded more like a “political ad paid for by Charlie Crist.” The constant attempt to divide our allegiances as Americans first by categorically implying a war between races must come to an end. Rubio’s response was well-thought out and delivered flawlessly. VIDEO

"Nothing gets done in Washington." Those were the words spoken by Gov. Charlie Crist during an interview with Bay News 9's Al Ruechel and the St. Petersburg Times' Adam Smith. Crist, one of the three major candidates for Florida's open U.S. Senate seat, said his typical days on the campaign trail are 20 hours long. "It's important for people to see candidates in the last days of the race when they are tired," said Crist. His biggest competitors, Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek, have also been criss-crossing the state in a last-minute frenzy for votes in one of...

No sign Meek or Crist will drop out -- but chatter buildsBY ADAM C. SMITH St. Petersburg Times TCPalm Posted October 13, 2010 at 8:54 a.m. Three weeks from election day, the math is clear: So long as nonpartisan candidate Charlie Crist and Democrat Kendrick Meek divvy up Democratic votes, Republican Marco Rubio is poised to comfortably win a U.S. Senate seat. There is zero evidence either Meek or Crist is remotely considering dropping out, but that's not stopping growing speculation fueled by Gov. Crist's allies. It's a sign of deep trouble for Meek that less than a week before...

TALLAHASSEE — Logic would have dictated that Gov. Charlie Crist leaving the Republican Party to run as an independent would have split GOP voters. Instead, Crist is causing havoc among Democrats who are bickering about what needs to be done to stop conservative Republican Marco Rubio from getting to Washington. Some Democrats are saying Crist should drop out because his political reincarnation is hurting the candidate they nominated, Rep. Kendrick Meek. Meanwhile, anybody-but-Rubio Democrats say Meek should give up because Crist has a better chance of winning. It’s unlikely either candidate will concede, leaving each with the near impossible task...

Family section pleased with gay adoption ruling Section’s brief cited twice in the opinion By Jan Pudlow Senior Editor Brimming with big news, former Family Law Section Chair Scott Rubin walked into a luncheon at the Bar’s Midyear Meeting in Orlando on September 22. Immediately, he told the section’s current chair, 15th Circuit Magistrate Diane Kirigin, who got everyone’s attention and turned the floor over to Rubin. Rubin announced that the Third District Court of Appeal had unanimously concluded “there is no rational basis for the statute,” and declared Florida’s 33-year-old ban on gay adoption unconstitutional because it violates equal...

Congratulations to the Rubio campaign for this latest big win...--------------------------------------------------- Environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, has thrown his family name behind Crist, who until earlier this year held elected office as a Republican. On Tuesday, the out-going Republican governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, posted his endorsement of Crist on Twitter. Read the rest at CNN --------------------------------------------------- It's almost as if to win Marco just needs to stand around and look pretty... The Looking Spoon is a conservative humor/satire/art/commentary blog, visit www.thelookingspoon.com to see more...