I voted yesterday, and then I came home and took a shower.
But I still feel dirty.
I voted for Charlie Crist for senate.
I have always been a liberal democrat. I've worked as a pollwatcher for the Kerry campaign and the Obama campaign. I supported Crist's Democratic opponent when he ran for governor. I've given money when I had it, to candidates like Alan Grayson. And I really admire Kendrick Meek. He is the kind of progressive Democrat we need. His sit-in in Jeb Bush's office was an act of courage and political genius. The Repubs are still going crazy trying to undo the class-size amendment, which he proposed and got the voters to pass, which sets a maximum size for public school classes. There's another measure on the ballot this time that the Repubs put there to try to undo it.
In stark contrast, Chain Gang Charlie has almost always been a political coward and opportunist, since early in his career when he sponsored the bill in the state legislature to his more recent appointments of right-wing judges to Florida courts, balanced, of course, by appointment of other judges who were more progressive.
There were a few exceptions where Crist actually showed some political courage. He quietly supported the judge in the Terry Schiavo case. He vetoed the so-called "merit pay" bill that would have crippled teachers and broken the teachers union -- and would have undermined public education in this state. And he vetoed the mandatory sonogram bill that would have put abortions out of reach for most women. He also supported the stimulus I'm sure there was political calculation in that but he did the right thing.
He says he will caucus with the Democrats. I'm sure he will -- as long as they are in the majority.
So why did I vote for Crist? Because he at least has a shot at beating Marco Rubio. He is within striking distance. Meek is not. While Crist is not good, he is not hateful. It breaks my heart. But there you have it.
I will continue to support progressive Democrats, including Alan Grayson and Joe Garcia -- and Kendrick Meek, if he chooses to run for office again. I hope he will.
So now I sit and wait for Tuesday's results, and hope that I have helped keep Marco Rubio out of the senate.
Update: Just to be clear, I supported Meek early on, and even sent him a small donation. It really hurt me to vote for Crist. Knowing that so many people agree with my decision according to my poll should make me feel better. But it doesn't.