Gov. Charlie Crist's electoral game plan, ever since ditching the GOP, has been to quickly move left to become the de facto Democratic candidate in the race. From vetoing a legislative attempt to bust the teacher's union in Florida, to reversing course on offshore drilling, to suddenly becoming an abortion right's defender, there isn't a formerly held conservative position he doesn't appear eager to ditch.
Now, he's staffing up with Democratic operatives.
Crist announced Friday that Josh Isay, a former chief of staff to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), is now his lead media consultant.
Isay also worked for Lieberman, so he appears to be staking out a niche working for turncoats. Crist also hired former Rep. Robert Wexler's chief of staff to be his South Florida political director. That move fueled already existing speculation that Wexler may eventually endorse Crist's bid.
And boy, it's clear that Florida Democrats, unhappy with Democrat Kendrick Meek's campaign efforts thus far, are looking for any excuse to jump ship to Crist.
The emergence of a politically unknown billionaire self-funder in the Florida Senate race is prompting top Democrats in the state to say publicly what some have been whispering for weeks: If Jeff Greene, who got rich betting on the collapse of the housing market, becomes their nominee, many in the party will have the cover they need to get behind Republican-turned-independent Gov. Charlie Crist.
Establishment Democrats in Florida, for now, are sticking with Rep. Kendrick Meek, who lags far behind in early general election polls against Crist and Republican Marco Rubio. Yet with Greene promising to drop at least $40 million of his fortune on the primary and pulling neck and neck with Meek in one survey, Sunshine State Democrats are beginning to consider the increasingly realistic prospect that their nominee might be a “meltdown mogul” — one who collects erotic art, had Mike Tyson serve as his best man and once hosted “Hollywood Madam” Heidi Fleiss as a house guest.
There's no doubt that a Greene nomination would be more than enough justification to jump ship in favor of Crist. Problem is, are Florida Democrats so stupid that they'd nominate the Greene? I'm finding it hard to believe.
This remains the most likely scenario:
So what should Meek do? Well, calls for him to step aside are stupid and premature. There are over five months left in the campaign, and history has plenty of examples of front-runners nuking each other to the benefit of a quiet, lesser-known third candidate. Ask Creigh Deeds about that. (Then again, don't. I never want to hear from that guy again.)
Running so tightly together, Rubio and Crist have to focus on each other, and it'll make little sense to spend precious campaign resources hitting the guy with 16% support. This way, Meek can do his own thing, mostly undisturbed, and hope he's the only palatable choice left after Rubio and Crist have made each other radioactive.
Is this a likely path to victory? Probably not. But it's certainly plausible.
But here's the thing -- Democrats will have a decision to make when they finally cast their ballots. They'll have two options to choose from as they try to hand the teabaggers their biggest potential loss of the cycle. By then, Crist will have promised to caucus with the Democrats (mark my words, he'll need to announce that if he hopes to lock up late Democratic support). The only question will be whether Crist or Meek is best positioned to deliver that defeat.
But there's no need to make that call now. Meek is certainly viable, and in a three-way race, anything can happen.
There's no reason to abandon the Democrat right now. But a decision on that will have to be made in late October.