The Jerk

I'm a few days late, but I didn't want to miss this chance at commenting on the dark heart that lies in many "moderate" members of the Establishment: Charlie Crist Heckled At HQ Opening

More than 100 people turned out to the opening of Charlie Crist's new campaign headquarters in downtown St Pete this morning. Among those publicly touted their support for Crist were Democratic state Rep. Darryl Rouson, Republican state Rep. Peter Nehr, Democratic Tampa city council member Charlie Miranda, Democratic former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco, and Republican state Sen. Mike Fasano.

The standout moment came when a heckler started shouting at Crist (around 3:10 into clip), "What about the guys who gave you money when you were a Republican?!"

"I'm going to keep it!" Crist cheerfully responded, drawing roars of approval. Check out his wink right after.

Yeah, f*** you very much, Charlie. Never mind that the centrist Republicans who donated $$ to Crist through the Senate campaign committee funnel would have been happy to see Crist elected to the Senate. It was Republican voters who rejected Crist, not the Establishment. There's a difference, you know.

I guess I kinda sorta understand where Crist is coming from. If this were 2004, he could have strolled into that Senate seat. Maybe he would have had to issue an extra-nuanced position paper on abortion to satisfy the rubes in the base, but he would have happily posed for pictures with W and talked tough on the Iraq War long enough to count. Once in the Senate, he could have cheerfully joined every bi-partisan Gang of ____ that has enabled the growth of the state, even in an ostensibly center-right era. But, sorry Charlie, this year isn't that sort of year.

Crist's stubborn insistence on running a third party campaign is not about ideology, or even "electibility." It's a simple quest for power, and don't think that there aren't people out there for whom that will be enough.