It's official. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has quit the GOP.
Update: Crist:
I haven't supported an idea because it's a Republican idea, or it's a Democratic idea. I support ideas I believe are good ideas for the people [...]
People have had enough of political fighting. They're tired of the games and name-calling and the politics of destruction. And they want progress, not gridlock. They are tired of things not getting done for them, for you.
They want someone that's more concerned about standing up for them than standing up for special interest or party. They look at Washington and they don't like what they see. They don't like what they see from politicians, they don't like what they see from the bureaucrats, and they don't like what they see from the gridlock.
Good thing he left the GOP, then.
Will he say who he would caucus with?
Update II: No talk about caucusing. Now, let's hope for a slash and burn campaign against his party.
And it's not a bad time to run this again:
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.