June 4, 2010

Charlie Crist's "Maverick" Campaign Now Run By... the Democrats?

Hatched by Dafydd

No, this is not a rib. (Why do I keep feeling the need to reassure readers that this isn't a late April Fool's Day joke?)

According to the New York Post, for what it's worth, the ObaMachine appears to have dumped the actual Democrat in the U.S. Senate race in Florida, Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL, 95%), throwing its considerable weight behind "independent," "post-partisan" former RINO Charlie Crist instead, the sitting governor of that same state:

The decision will be widely viewed as a slap at Democratic frontrunner Rep. Kendrick Meek, who is trailing badly in the polls and many Democrats believe is hopeless for winning in November.

Making it all the more ominous for Meek is that SKDKnickerbocker is helmed by Anita Dunn, who most recently served as senior advisor to President Obama and is one of the administration's most valued political operators outside the White House.

Of course, for this to happen, two events must have occured sub-rosa:

  • President Barack H. Obama must at least indirectly have ordered his old cohort Anita "I ♥ Mao" Dunn to assume command, through her lieutenant, Josh Isay.
  • Gov. Crist would have to have willingly handed his campaign over to the Obamunists.

(It would help Crist's chances if Meek would just "go away." Look for a bright future at the Department of Health and Human Services or the Social Security Administration to be dangled before the congressman's eyes.)

The actual "lead media consultant" to Crist will be Josh Isay, former top strategist for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (another party-switcher, this time from Democrat to Republican for the purpose of dodging a tough Democratic primary).

Politico has a bit more on the firm, SKDKnicerbocker::

The release also notes the firm, which includes former NY Post reporter Stefan Friedman, labor and lobbyist powerhouse Jennifer Cunningham and is partnered with Bill Knapp and Anita Dunn in Washington, has worked on the last four Democratic presidential nominees' campaigns.

Isay was also chief-of-staff to Sen. Charles Schumer and managed his successful 1998 campaign. Most recently, he worked on Bloomberg's last two mayoral efforts, and also helped guide Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman to victory running as an independent - an effort that became something of a test case for success.

This story is for all those who actually believed that Gov. Charlie Crist was going to be independent, as opposed to a Democrat shill hoping to derail the freight train of the actual Republican, erstwhile Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, State Rep. Marco Rubio. Now the shill has elbowed out the other Democrat, displacing him in the family pecking order. Heh.

Perhaps it would be instructive to check out Real Clear Politics' poll posting for the race. RCP shows three "current" polls for the threesome between Rubio, Crist, and Meek; but the bottom one from Mason-Dixon is a month old. In fact, it was taken less than a week after Crist made the dramatic announcement that he was going to pull out of the GOP primary and run as an Independent instead. That makes it obsolete and tainted; adios, Mr. Mason and Mr. Dixon!

Tossing that one out, we have a Rasmussen poll from May 16th that shows Rubio ahead by 8 points at 39%, Crist second with 31, and Meek a distant third with 18 (recall that Rasmussen polls likely voters, not all registered voters). The remaining poll is from the St. Petersburg Times, 5/14 to 5/18: Crist leads with 30%, Rubio second with 27, and Meek last with 15. The average of the two polls has Rubio at 33.0%, Crist at 30.5, and Meek with 16.5.

So once again, the Democratic plan of abandoning Meek and jumping ship to Crist seems like the opportunistic path of least principle.

In the end, it won't matter; Rubio is actually much farther ahead than the polls show. As many electoral analysts have pointed out, when the "incumbent" -- or in this case, the better-known candidate, Charlie Crist, the state's sitting governor -- is mired below the 50% mark, then typically, on election day, nearly all the undecideds will vote for the challenger.

Rubio is going to win this race; Meek will limp along with his minor career; and Charlie Crist will be consigned to the Island of the Tiresome, where he and Arlen Specter can play Diplomacy through all eternity, never to be heard from again.

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, June 4, 2010, at the time of 7:34 PM

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: levi from queens

Mayor bloomberg is a double-crosser. He switched from Dem to Republican to avoid the Democratic primary, and then he switched again from Republican to Independent to avoid the Republican primary.

The only other two double-crossers whom I can recall are Wayne Morse (Senator from Oregon) and of course Sir Winston Churchill who went from Conservative to Liberal and back. I guess this last makes me more tolerant of party-switchers.

I dislike Mr. Crist because he took inprudent financial risks with the state of Florida, i.e. one good hurricane could bankrupt the state.

The above hissed in response by: levi from queens [TypeKey Profile Page] at June 5, 2010 7:29 AM

The following hissed in response by: Reid's Worst Nightmare

This just in: in a bizarre murder-suicide, Rod Blogojevich shot Kendrick Meeks and took his own life.

Upcoming Newsweek cover story: "Why some wingnut kooks don't think it was a suicide."

The above hissed in response by: Reid's Worst Nightmare [TypeKey Profile Page] at June 6, 2010 2:00 PM

The following hissed in response by: Ken Hahn

It's a RINO stampede. They're spooked. Specter and Crist are running and they others are sniffing around, pawing and snorting. We don't have to "purge" the RINOs, they're running away on their own.

The above hissed in response by: Ken Hahn [TypeKey Profile Page] at June 6, 2010 3:28 PM

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