I live in north Florida in one of the bluest counties in the state, Gadsden. In the last week I've received a couple of strange campagain call from a group calling itself "Conservatives". The robo call has sound bites of Charlie Crist - Here is the full message that Adam Smith of the Tampa Bay Times included in an article on the calls:
"Hi, this is Charlie Crist calling to set the record straight. I'm prolife. I oppose amnesty for illegal immigrants, I support traditional marriage, and I have never supported a new tax or big spending program. It's sad that in his fourth try for governor my opponent has resorted to distortions and untruths. … Floridians need a consistent, conservative governor that they can trust. I would appreciate your vote on election day. Thank you so much and God bless you, and God bless Florida."
The call is from Crist's 2006 primary fight against Tom Gallagher.
Apparently the call is designed to alienate Crist from democratic voters. Now any democratic voter knows that politicians evolve on issues as President Obama has. And voters in the state know that Crist was once a republican and was in some very nasty primaries. I don't think that it is going to sway too many democrats to vote for Rick Scott. I don't believe that there is a democrat in the state that wouldn't vote for ANY ONE other than Rick - I've gutted the state - Scott. If anything I think it might cause some of the more conservative democrats and moderates up where I live to remember that Crist is not a far left democrat and might make them more likely to vote for Crist.
The call has angered a lot of democrats which can only help Crist. I Think the strategy is very odd and just shows how scared Scott's campaign is of Charlie Crist. When we are doing GOTV we need to be aware of these calls and be prepared to answer democrats concerns about Crist's democratic credentials.
Remind fellow democrats that Charlie Crist would:
Expand Medicaid in Florida.
Protect Florida's natural environment.
Take steps to prepare for climate change - unlike Scott, Crist believes in climate change.
Help restore some of the Florida's social safety net.
Act as a check to the radical republican state legislature.
When I see Repubs trying to out think us with this kind of strange strategy I think we are on a winning track. They remind me of Vizzini in The Princess Bride: