Crist on Greer: It’s been a little rough and tumble
by Michael C. Bender | January 6th, 2010We caught up with Republican Gov. Charlie Crist on his walk Tuesday afternoon from the Capitol to a training session for new circuit, county and appellate judges to get his thoughts on Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer’s resignation. Here’s the rough transcript:
(Also, here’s our story about Greer’s resignation, the audio from Greer’s conference call and some reaction from Palm Beach County Republicans.)
CRIST: “I’m sorry to see him go because I know how hard he worked particularly in the area of minority outreach and I’m very proud of that. Having said that I think that Sen. Thrasher will do an extraordinary job as chairman. And I have great respect for John. And I think it’s very important to have a unified party as we enter into this new year and a very important election year. So, those are my thoughts.”
Q: Were your thoughts about Greer affected by the letter from the 12 fundraisers? Could Greer have remained in his job after that?
CRIST: I think that was a decision Jim wanted to make. And I respect that. You know, he’s got a family to think about, things like that. It’s been a little rough and tumble, obviously. And, you know, I supported him up to the end, but ultimately it’s a decision he and his family have to make.
Q: What are the consequences of this decision on your campaign? Will it continue to operate out of party headquarters?
CRIST: As of today, yeah. Honestly, I haven’t even thought about about it.
Q: Thrasher was a Gallagher supporter and aligned with Jeb Bush. Were you pressured into accepting a party chairman who wasn’t your first choice?
CRIST: No, no. There’s no pressure. I just have very high regard for John and very high respect for him. I know he’s tremendously fair and balanced kind of guy. And so I think he will lead well and will truly help to unify our party at a time that it’s needed. We’re going into an election year and as you all know we’ve got a lot of elections this year in Florida. The one thing we need to be from the get-go is a unified party and prepared for those victories that are so important in November.
Q: How does Greer’s resignation reflect on your campaign?
CRIST: It’s the kind of decision only Jim can make. While I have been satisfied, more than satisfied, with the job he’s done as chairman, it’s really a decision he has to make with the consensus of his family. I think that’s why he’s made it.
Q: What does this say about the state of the party?
CRIST: I think what it says is that we’re entering a new chapter. And as I said previously with Sen. Thrasher’s leadership, I think that bodes well for the future.
Q: Have your people looked into whether the party can raise money under Thrasher while the legislature is in session?
CRIST: I have not looked at that. … I’m sure somebody has folks looking at that. I’m thinking about meeting with some judges right now.
Q: Does this represent a different philosophy for the party or conflicting philosophies?
CRIST: I don’t think so. You’re the first person I’ve heard say that. So I don’t know that anybody else is, that I’ve heard from. I don’t think that it was ideology that got us into this.
Q: No?
CRIST: Do you? I mean, really?
Q: If it wasn’t ideology, does that mean the problems were specifically with Greer?
CRIST: I’ll let you be the arbiter of that.
Q: What do you attribute this rough-and-tumble patch or disunity in the party to?
CRIST: What I attribute it to? I’m not sure what to attribute it to. I just think it’s a good time to move foward.
Q: Greer was a strong ally. He tried to protect you from a primary challenge.
CRIST: General McCollum, too.
Q: True. You don’t feel that his resignation is going to affect your primary at all?
CRIST: No, I don’t. There’s only one way to find out. But I don’t think so.
Q: Does Greer get ousted in a year when there is no Tea Party movement like we’ve seen in the last six or eight months?
CRIST: As I said, you’re much better to speculate on that kind of stuff than me. I’ve got enough to do. I’ll leave the speculating to you.
Q: But you’ve got the legendary political acumen. We’re looking for some insights here.
CRIST: I’ll leave it to you for this year.
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January 6th, 2010 at 10:12 am
I think I would like to commend my friend Chairman Jim Greer for his I think selfishness and dedication to me personally and the Republican Party of Florida over the last three years. Under Chairman Greer’s dictatorship we stole a lot of money from the RPOF coffers, took overseas trips, he smoked free cigars and we partied hardy together. When I annointed Jim Chairman of the RPOF he promised to fend off others who might want to run against me and any of my corrupt cronies like McCollum and Kottkamp. At least he succeeded with Charles Bronson but that Marco Rubio and Paula Dockery are some heardheaded people, they are not scared of him.
I think Jim has long been a loyal servant to our personal hijacking of the RPOF, and I appreciate the many sacrifices he caused others to suffer on my behalf because of our ongoing culture of corruption. However, I think I now believe we have gone to far and people are beginning to ask question and demand answers. This I think scares me, no telling what they will uncover if they demand a federal investigation.
I think call on Florida Republicans to unite behind honest conservative candidates, of which I realize I do not qualify, so honest people who deserve honest public servants, can move forward together to ensure statewide Republican victories in 2010. I think I suspect with all the ongoing investigations surrounding persons I do not personally know but, who have for some unknown reason provided me untold countless thousands and maybe even millions of dollars may ultimately lead to my downfall, I think.
January 6th, 2010 at 11:05 am
For continuing coverage of Jim Greer’s departure, please visit saintpetersblog.com.
January 10th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
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