Political porn, from a Florida columnist:
So what does Charlie do? He hopes the Legislature sends him a bill that allows insurance rates to rise to stabilize the market. And then Charlie goes into full populist mode and vetoes it. Then Charlie calls for a special session on corruption, targeting Republican abuse of party funds. This puts Republican legislative leaders in the very awkward position of letting Charlie grandstand at their expense or rejecting the session.
So Charlie goes into full populist mode, running as an independent with a pro-gun, pro-teacher, anti-insurance, anti-corruption campaign. That is a package that sells in Florida. Crist argues he left the Party because the Party of Reagan grew enamored of the perks of power and lost touch with the people. It became the Party of special interests and entitlements. This damages Bill McCollum and other Republicans running for office as the Dems point to Charlie as evidence that Republicans have become corrupt from too many years in control.
Now the columnist thinks a victorious Crist would caucus with the GOP in the Senate. I bet he'd caucus with Democrats. But that's neither here nor there. Trashing his state's GOP would be sweet, and it's clearly something some (sane) Florida Republicans are worried about.
ALLEN: Crist has always been a prodigious fundraiser, but questions about a possible independent candidacy have left many big donors uneasy. After his veto of the education bill last week, some longtime allies, such as former Senator Connie Mack, pulled their endorsements. Yesterday, Florida's former State Republican Chairman Al Cardenas, issued his own appeal to Crist to either stay in the GOP primary or drop out of the race.
He says the party has done a lot to help Crist over the years, and now stands to lose a lot if he runs as an Independent. Democrats, Cardenas notes, had been gaining in Florida, and now have built more than a 700,000 voter registration edge over Republicans.
Mr. AL CARDENAS (Former State Chairman, Republican Party): We need to rebuild our party. And if a governor who's so well-known and liked by many decides to run as an independent, it would have serious long-term negative effects on our party.
Let's certainly hope so.