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NRSC Endorsed Charlie Crist Bolts the GOP. Won’t Give Back Donor Dollars.

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  April 28th, 2010 at 01:18 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

One year ago today, NRSC backed Arlen Specter bolted from the GOP. Today, the media is reporting NRSC backed Charlie Crist is also bolting the GOP.

Seeing a trend here, aren’t we?

Charlie Crist will not only run as an independent in Florida, but he has also reserved all of his air time in Florida through November, or as much as he can.

Why?

Because he knows the Club for Growth is going to do what they did to Specter — fund an effort to have Crist donors ask for their money back. Well, because Crist has spent it all on television advertising holds that he may or may not later use, he can say he has none to give back.

Classy, Charlie.

Oh, and below the fold, let’s have a walk down the NRSC funded memory lane.

Lamar Alexander, U.S. Senator

“The thought of Governor Crist becoming Senator Crist is welcome news. Three years into his first term as Governor, he’s the most popular elected official in Florida’s history because of his outstanding career as a no-nonsense attorney general, a progressive education commissioner, and a fiscally conservative chief executive who last year led Florida to its largest property-tax decrease ever.”

Jon Kyl, U.S. Senator
“Charlie Crist is the right man at the right time. He’ll help restore a Republican majority to the U.S. Senate in 2010, and I am delighted to support him.”

Mitch McConnell, U.S. Senator
“Decisions are being made every day in Washington that have a direct impact upon the lives of all Americans and we need Charlie Crist in the U.S. Senate to ensure that those decisions will benefit the citizens of Florida.”

John Cornyn, U.S. Senator and NRSC Chairman
“I am pleased today to endorse Governor Charlie Crist for the United States Senate. With his record of reform in Florida, I know that Governor Crist will bring a fresh perspective to Washington in our efforts to fight for lower taxes, less government, and new job creation for all Americans. Charlie Crist is a tireless advocate on behalf of all Floridians and one of only three Governors who earned an ‘A’ from the CATO Institute for his efforts to restrain spending and cut taxes last year.”

Mel Martinez, U.S. Senator
“As Governor, Charlie has demonstrated a common sense approach to governing that successfully addresses the critical issues facing Florida. He is the type of leader our state needs in Washington.”

John McCain, U.S. Senator
“As Governor, Charlie Crist has demonstrated his commitment to these fiscally conservative principles by delivering the largest tax cut in Florida history, reducing government spending, and focusing on the issues that are important to Floridians,”

Lindsey Graham, U.S. Senator
“You have been an incredibly successful governor, and I know your style of common-sense conservatism will serve the people of Florida well in the Senate and is exactly what the national Republican Party needs.”

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COMMENTS

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  • http://www.barrypopik.com barrypopik

    Some Republican leadership leaves a lot to be desired.

    As for Charlie Crist, sinking his ship with Republican money, it’s classless all the way.

  • JadedByPolitics

    be forever REMEMBERED for the LOSER HE IS!

  • joecollins

    Great time to contribute to Rubio’s campaign:

    http://www.marcorubio.com/

  • http://hillbillypolitics.com Steph C

    fake conservatives.

    At some point, the anti-incumbent sentiments in this country are going to affect them, too, as it has already affected McCain. Considering how hard we’ve had to fight them as well as the Democratic Congress, I don’t believe we’ll forget so easily.

  • Brian_Roastbeef

    Crist is already in a difficult spot. Rubio has proven he can outraise him better than 3-1. Now he knows that his GOP donors are going to dry up and that he’ll be in that uncomfortable position of giving up the money you have or look like a sleaze while keeping it. It appears he has chosen the latter, and conservative groups will rightfully punish him for it.

    I really think Crist is done now. He really should have just dropped out, endorsed Rubio, and sat back hoping that Jeb won’t seek Nelson’s seat in 2012. Too late for that now. Goodbye.

  • RINKER

    At least we won’t have to worry with him anymore. 2012 is definitely out for him!
    I knew I didn’t like him when he handed John McCain the Republican presidential nomination with his endorsement.

  • E Pluribus Unum

    Go RUBIO!!!!!

  • IJB

    Is anyone advising this moron?! Or does he just only listen to his own ego now?!!

    Someone help me out here – *HOW* does Crist win this race?!

    If you are a real Republican, you have no reason not to back and vote for Rubio.

    If you are an Independent who’s opposed to the Obama agenda, you have no reason not vote for Rubio (and certainly NO reason to vote *for* Crist!).

    If you are a Democrat, you have no reason not to vote for the loyal, reliable Obama supporter, Kendrick Meek.

    If you are a member of a teacher’s union, you are still better off supporting Meek, regardless of Crist’s veto.

    So *who* does Crist think he’s going to get to vote for him?! The minuscule number of people who think he’s doing a “good job as Governor”!?!
    As far as I can tell, his only constituency might be Independents who are soft Obama leaners. THAT’S NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH TO GET YOU TO 33%!!

    Crsit thinks he’s going to be the next Michael Bloomberg or Joe Lieberman – the difference there is that, in those races, Republican voters had NOWHERE ELSE TO GO if they wanted to beat the Dem. That’s *not* the case here.

    It’s like I said elsewhere – Crist isn’t going to be the next Bloomberg, he’s going to end up being the next Chris Daggett.

    I’ll predict right now that, if Crist is still in this race in November, he’ll draw no more than 15% of the vote. In fact, the odds are pretty good that he won’t even get 10% of the vote.

  • http://hillbillypolitics.com Steph C
  • Darin_H

    Crist’s political career will be in the dustbin of history come November.

  • zollistar

    …so your comment is very good news indeed..

  • RedBeard

    I’ve always known he was a rudderless and opportunistic RINO, but I still held out some hope for him. I guess I wasn’t taking into account his surplus of stupidity. And stupid is as stupid does. Goodbye, Charlie.

  • KeepOhioRed

    excuse me if I don’t shed many tears that you won’t get your money back.

  • Republican_Michigander

    Over the last several years, I’ve been told about how the GOP has moved to the right, which is crap. If anything they moved to the left. Then these so called moderates, mostly in the beltway, are demanding that my party do this and that. THEIR candidate got nominated in 2008, and what happened, they endorsed Obama. Scott McClellan. Mark McKinnon. Colin Powell. Kathleen Parker. Peggy Noonan. David Frum. Matthew Dowd. Chris Buckley.

    The NRSC goes out and backs Specter and Crist. They support the fiscal leftism from the dems. The base has enough and doesn’t support the establishment picks. Specter bolts and Crist bolts and cries about the GOP moving to the right, which is crap. The establishment supported them. Those who rejected Crist and Specter are THOSE STATE’S voters.

    These so called moderates (not true moderates) can go F themselves. I’d vote for a John Dingell over a Charlie Crist. Dingell won’t stab me in the back. F them.

  • jsmiddleton4

    Given what his own words are about being a Republican, staying a Republican, how could anyone ever vote for this guy? Being and “independent” does not mean “I have no values.” Crist just showed he is nothing more than an untrustworthy politician. There is nothing independent about that!

  • http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

    If you?d like to call the NRSC, they are actually answering their phones: 1-202-675-6000. I asked for the Press Office and spoke with a young lady named Caroline who offered to check with her superiors to see if she can get me a copy of the NRSC press release about Specter (I?m sure they?ll say they never released one or that they ?purged? it from their system).

    I called Cornyn at his Senate office and his staffer said he did not have a statement. Yet. 1-202-224-2934.

    Any doubt as to whether Crist was a ?Republican In Name Only? should now be laid to rest.

    Thank you.
    ColdWarrior, PC
    Conservatives, UNITE! CHANGE the Republican Party and save the world by UNITING INSIDE the Republican Party as precinct committeemen. NOW!

  • jaybo

    First it was Sen. Chafee, then came Sen. Specter and now we have Gov. Crist.

    Can you not see the pattern here?

    RiNOs (political opportunists) are worthless when tough decisions need to be made. I will go as far as to say that they are even dangerous. They are dangerous because they do not make the hard decisions out of concern for the country.

    I admire and honor Sen. McCain’s service to our country. But his flip-flop on immigration reform and and cap & trade is a shameless, politically motivated ploy to be re-elected to The Senate.

  • DavidS1787

    what if the SEIU comes in to raise money for Obama’s good old friend Charlie Crist?

  • Leopard1996

    For the NJ governors election. It was expected that with Dagget on the ballot, the vote would be split between him and Christie, letting that piece of garbage Corzine back into office for another term.

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    …of supporting third party candidates at the levels* that the polls said that Daggett did.

    *As far as I can tell, neither does Florida at the Senatorial level,

  • DavidS1787

    progressives! They shouldn’t be trusted! They like Obama are for a global government higher taxes,and are disloyal to their own party.

  • http://www.criterionchemical.com Chemical Sam

    Mickey Mouse could run against Rubio for all I care. The House of Mouse would have their own legitimate reasons for funding Mickey’s campaign.

    I could say the same thing for Crist, but the fact of the matter is he’s doing it with money from his Republican base, given to him expressly for the purpose of winning a Republican Senate seat.

    Now, he can have but one motive, and that’s harming his own Republican base in a simple act of revenge. He will do his best to cost Rubio the seat. He may draw off enough votes and succeed. Either way, his public career is completely over.

    If he wants to run for the sake of his own ego, let him. But he should return the money that the Republicans gave him.

    What would really be the sweetest is if he just fails, Rubio wins, and all those donors to the NRSC evaporate, and the people of Florida finally learn their lessons.

  • Leopard1996

    I lived in NJ for over 20 years, and never saw a third party candidate get any traction. But alas, NJ got so stupid, that I had to leave.

  • deano64

    but Rush is reporting that along with Jeb Bush that Marco Rubio has spoken out against the new Arizona immigration law. I’ve never been disappointed in anything I’ve heard Rubio say until now. Does he understand states rights? Has he read the bill? Uggh.

  • RINKER

    There is some misinformation out there about the bill. There are some solid conservatives expressing some reservation about some details of the bill. I’m going to let the dust settle before I take sides on some of the finer points. I agree with it 100% in theory – I just want some more information about it.

  • deano64

    Yes, it’s called leftist propaganda… It’s a pretty straight forward bill. I would actually like a little more clarification from Rubio on his comments. I certainly am not saying I won’t continue to support him because of this. It’s just concerning since his comments sound a lot like comments coming from Dems and RINOS.

  • RedBeard

    The problem is that Crist does not.

    I had hoped that he could, at the very least, recognize the cold, hard facts, step aside, and save whatever political capital he had left in order to fight another day. A good political opportunist would have seen this as the only viable strategy.

    But instead, Crist has apparently lost all touch witrh reality, and has effectively terminated himself as a political force. What he has done makes no sense, even for a waffling RINO opportunist.

  • IJB

    For obvious reasons.

    Rubio’s position on AZ is hardly surprising, and is nearly totally besides the point, considering his background. It’s not a disqualifier (by itself, anyway…).

  • RedBeard

    A loud outcry against Crist’s tactics, whether the money comes back or not, will be a good thing. Voters don’t like tricksters and turncoats, and Crist keeping the dough just makes him look even worse. And that is a good thing.

  • TxCon

    that worries me. Coleman cost Ollie North a VA Senate seat in 1994.

  • jimc1969

    I’m very disappointed in Senator Kyl for endoring this RINO. Hes voting record is mostly conservative I believe ( Kyls’ record that is )

  • jimc1969

    I’m very disappointed in Senator Kyl for endoring this RINO. Hes voting record is mostly conservative I believe ( Kyls’ record that is )

  • bk

    as to ratio of Crist anti-Rubio ads vs anti-Meek ads? I’ll take 90% if that’s available.

  • IJB

    The main differences:

    1) Ollie North was running against an *Incumbent*, who are notoriously hard to dislodge. FL 2010 is an *open* seat race, which means the dynamics are totally different. (Kendrick Meek is no Chuck Robb!)

    2) Coleman was endorsed by the (for some strange reason, popular) RINO John Warner. Crist will lose *EVERY* Republican backer he has right now – they’ll all go to Rubio.

    3) The VA GOP was pretty split at the time IIRC. The opposite is true of the FL GOP, now that Jim Greer has been ousted.

    Even in the Coleman race, he only pulled in 10% – in the current FL Senate race, that 10% would allow Rubio to win comfortably.

    Crist can only play “spoiler” in this race if he can keep his numbers over 20% on Election Day. I’m totally dubious that he’ll be able to keep them even over 15%.

  • rightwingmom52

    believe in the rule of law and in becoming a U.S. citizen. They do not favor amnesty.

  • IJB

    But the ones I know would tend to be leery of a law like AZ’s, even though it’s totally right on the merits.

  • snowshooze

    And Finally Crist is out of the way officially.
    Should there have been any left in Florida who were still uncertain who Crist really is, this should clear it all up for them.
    After I get gloating I will have to write another snide e-mail to the RNSC and rub it in a bit deeper… and thank them get again for all the fine work they do. (gag)

  • snowshooze

    I tried to dig something up on them.. I came up pretty much zip.
    Are they even organized? I was hoping to see some statement as to the Crist defection there, thought it might be interesting. Can anyone just declare ? Yep, I am an Independent? It would appear so.

  • Republican_Michigander

    No Party Affiliation. I can’t speak for Florida, but that’s the terminology here in Michigan.

    If I get extra money, I’ll be sending two checks. Marco Rubio and Pat Toomey.

  • Martin Knight

    And I don’t mean that in a good way.

  • Bill

    Doesn’t matter which party, Progressives drink from the trough of BIG GOVERNMENT and moderates, RINOs, middle of the road, center right or center left want a BIG Government, not small limited government. All those you named who got their nominee in 2008 and then endorsed Obama are those Progressives, as are the Crist supporters. Progressives are like extremist homosexuals, they are proud and not afraid to come out of the closet now! It has been 100 years since our Progressive Teddy Roosevelt was president. You remember Teddy Roosevelt, he is John McCain’s favorite President. A Progressive GOP president forerunner to Woodrow Wilson and FDR.

  • E Pluribus Unum

    And what they spend in a futile effort to defeat Rubio, they can’t spend on some really, really crucial and close Senate and House races.

  • proudconservativerepublican

    if Crist runs as an indy he can pretty much kiss his political career goodbye and I won’t shed a tear over it.

  • davesinsanantonio

    And, like all politicians, all he really cares about is winning the next election at any cost. Politicians have no principles upon which they stand. Principles are for statesmen. Statesmen care most about what is best for the country, not just the next election. As in most things human there is a bell shaped curve on the statesman-politician continuum. I admit it is a skewed curve on the politician end. There are very few true statesmen. Charlie Crist is pure politician, as are all RINOs. The fact they are RINOs proves it. We need to find and convince to run true conservative statesmen (and that term includes women who really care about the course of America) then work to get them elected and re-elected until they become infected with Beltway Disease, Then we need to dump them and find another true conservative statesman to replace them.

  • davesinsanantonio

    candidate just because he has one little mole on his cheek. Again, remember the bell shaped curve. If the Dems are way left, and Rinos are on the curved part of the left, and most Americans are in the high middle, Rubio is on the right hand slope. Who is farther right than he is? If no one out there is better, then support him and stop whining for perfection. You will never find it. Anyone who looks perfect will have hidden flaws that will come to light at the worst possible moment. So, go with the best candidate, and stop nitpicking him. If you have a real problem with his position on the AZ bill, tell him directly, and factually back up your position (maybe he will come around to it), but don’t give the opposition any ammunition to use against him. Believe me, they will use any ammunition you give them, because all they care about is winning and destroying this country. Don’t help them do it!!!!

  • bamron

    As soon as Crist (really, what an inappropriate name, Judas is better) announces, I am making a contribution to Rubio. I think many others will do the same. Talk about blind ambition, this guy needs a seeing eye dog.

  • saltlick

    Watch for a “payoff” to Crist somewhere down the line.

  • freethinkerfl

    that Crist has gone Independent, the door is open for Libertarian candidate Alex Snitker to take a large portion of the vote. Crist will drag votes from Meeks and Obama supporting independents. Rubio and Snitker will split the rest and Snitker has a chance in this political environment to win.

    This makes for a very interesting Senate race up to November!

  • Brian Hibbert

    His answer was the right one. He said that should he lose in the primary, he would acknowledge the will of the voters and support the winner of the primary. His reasoning was that even Crist would be FAR better than anyone on the Democrat side.

    Too bad Crist isn’t as honorable as Marco Rubio.

    GO MARCO!!!!!!!

  • Brian Hibbert

    At best he has a chance to be a spoiler and cause Rubio to lose to the Democrat. Split electorates NEVER win. They only allow their least favorite choice to win with a minority of the vote.

  • jcincy

    So Ray Boyd in Georgia refuses to sign the GOP Pledge of Allegiance and decides to run as an independent.

    Here we have Charlie Crist… I don’t know if there’s a silly pledge in FL as well… but look at his record…

    He had no problem taking GOP dollars to run for governor…
    He had no problem taking GOP dollars to run for senate…

    But when things weren’t going his way in the GOP… so long suckers!

    You folks still think a pledge would keep a man like Charlie Crist from bolting the party or stabbing the party in the back? Get a clue.

  • Scope

    and if you look at his website, his positions on the issues mirror Ron Paul’s. I expect Ron Paul to endorse him any day now. He will accomplish absolutely nothing more than to insure a Meeks win.

  • TxCon

    than I do, especially in Florida.

  • TxCon

    than I do, especially in Florida.

  • Scope

    Krauthammer made the best comment last night about Crist. First, they played the Wallace interview, from three weeks ago where Wallace asked him 5 times if he would run as a Republican. He consisted said yes, though squirming while answering. He already knew then that he was going to bolt from the Republican party.

    As Charles said, Crist, running as an Independent, what is he running on? What are his positions, as they have constantly changed over the last few years, the oil drilling off Fla. coast being one of them. After the Wallace interview, who would believe anything he says? It will be interesting to see if his ads, if he can afford them, give any hint of who he will caucus with. At this point the only thing he can promote is himself. Will he just talk about the things he accomplished while Governor? He sure gained the support of the Teachers Union just recently. How much money can he raise just from the teachers? Who will send him donations?

    Because he slapped the idiot Republican elites in the face with his switch, they have more than egg on their faces. Will they retaliate? As of Sunday, McConnell told Wallace that he wasn’t ready to take back his endorsement of Crist. Can the NRSC ask for their money back? Not that they will get it back, it’s spent. Can they attach any future donations in any way?

    The biggest question- Will the R elites learn from this. They’ve done wrong in the past, but, this race is so high profile it has to have them on their butts, facing the wall, with dunce caps on. Can’t wait to hear their statements on this, if they make any, and don’t hide from embarrassment. If I were them I wouldn’t go on any interview shows for a long time. They will get smacked hard. Can we finally put them on the dung pile?

  • Tbone

    why taking campaign contributions to run as a Republican and then not doing that is not fraud?

    Why isn’t there a class action suit files against Crist?

  • Scope

    according to this article, Emanuel had no interest, but, is planning on pushing Meeks hard in the election.

    http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/04/the-night-beat-sorry-charlie/39662

    Poor Charlie has no where to go. If he won, God forbid, again, who will he caucus with. No one has any interest in him because he is a man without a rational thought or principle.

  • freethinkerfl

    elections are all about counting the split vote. Meeks doesn’t stand a chance of winning. The Libertarian Snitker will draw from both repub and dem voters as well as liberty minded independents. Crist and meeks will split the Dem, libereral independents, and rino vote.

    Rubio and snitker will probably account for 65% of the vote and unless Crist only gets 3-5% (unlikely) then a liberty minded candidate will win be it Rubio or Snitker

  • DavidS1787

    U.S. Senators’ Lamar Alexander,John Cornyn,Lindsey Graham
    John McCain,Jon Kyl and Mitch McConnell pull thier endorsements from Charlie Crist! If they no longer endorse Charlie Crist will they stand up like men and go out on on TV today and through out the weekend and say publicly they now endorse Marco Rubio and ask Crist to take down off his website their endorsements?

  • DavidS1787

    These people are progressive Republicans.

  • uselogic

    Crist constituents are all the Florida newspapers and their editorial staffs who endorsed him as a “common sense” Republican. And the many uncritical lemming-like people down here who drink the MSM kool-aid. It gives a cover to look like they are not as far-left as they really are. Already the drumbeat of support for his “independence” is showing up in slanted “news” articles on his impending announcement.

    Born in FL and spent most of life here. Orange Charlie is the worst governor in my lifetime… even compared to Dem’s Graham & Chiles. Floridians (and all Republicans) need to burn this guy to a crisp to make an example of him.

  • Scope

    you are hoping that your idiot Libertarian, Campaign for Liberty candidate, will take votes away from Rubio, because Rubio doesn’t meet up to your freakin’ purity test. Rubio falls far short of your “perfection test” because he believes in a strong military, and national secutity. Your chosen perfect candidate will gain absolutely nothing, and he knows it. You people do nothing more than try to harm and destroy the Republican party, because they are just not perfect enough for you. One of the biggest issues today in polling is that Americans want to feel “safe.” Your Paul positions make them feel less safe. They are worse than even the O’s. Get over yourself.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Libertards don’t count.

  • gunslingr45

    ALL RINO’S would leave the Republican party en masse, and at once and don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!
    But then again the progressives can do more damage from the inside and they can keep all the money they have stolen from the masses when they do jump ship. So why should they.
    I will not leave the Republican party to become an independent or Libertarian, they have already left me!
    Just like this PR bill that passed yesterday. All the so called “R’s” that voted for this piece of crap is guilty off helping the Demorats enlarge their base. We need a new set of bylaws that says you only get one vote that goes before conservative values, and your OUT before you get the second. For example, look and see how many “R’s” voted anti-second amendment and kick them to the curb. GET BUSY GOP leaders before we do!