Crist and Rubio take questions after they spoke to the Christian Family Coalition in Miami. Bender/Post
1. No, Gov. Charlie Crist is not giving up his Republican registration. But it’s pretty clear now that he’s decided to promote the independent streak that won him national attention as he built a bipartisan image his first year in office.
2. Speaking of Crist’s first year: With his final State of the State coming on Tuesday, here’s a timely look-back at our coverage of his 2007 speech, when he called for more environmental preservation and a voting paper trail and included a quote from Robert Kennedy:
“For him to get up there and do what he did today, he said: ‘I’m my own man,’ that was a strong message,” said Sen. Victor Crist, R-Temple Terrace, who is not related to the governor. “When he gave his final quote from Robert Kennedy, that was bold, and I watched Speaker Rubio’s face, and I turned to the two House members on either side of me, and I said, ‘Oh-oh.’ “
House Speaker Marco Rubio said Crist’s style has helped improve the tone in Tallahassee. “By far the most optimistic first day of session in the eight I’ve been a part of,” said Rubio, R-West Miami. “I think there is a general tone of cooperation.”
3. By portraying himself as an independent Republican (someone who loves guns, hates taxes and can work across the aisle), Crist is hoping to steal some of the sizzle of Rubio’s image as the anti-establishment candidate. In Broward County, Crist tried to use Rubio’s campaign against him:
Republican Charlie Crist barreled into the governor’s office four years ago on the crest of a populist wave.
Today, he’s at risk of getting sucked into the undertow.
Crist opens his final spring legislative session on Tuesday weaker than he’s ever been.
His approval rating is 50 percent — about 20 points lower than it was at the start of 2009. He’s a surprising underdog in U.S. Senate primary polls. As with all lame-duck governors, his veto pen carries less weight than it did at the start of his term, when lawmakers fear multiple years in the governor’s doghouse.
Saturday, February 27th, 2010 by Michael C. Bender
Neither Gov. Charlie Crist nor former Speaker Marco Rubio mentioned the other by name at the forum this morning in Miami, but the target of their barbs was unmistakable.
Saturday, February 27th, 2010 by Michael C. Bender
Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate, told The Palm Beach Post editorial board on Friday that, unlike many Republicans in Washington, he didn’t think President Obama should scrap his health care reform proposal:
“There may be parts of it that you don’t have to scrap. There are three parts of it that I would like to see scrapped: It would raise taxes significantly, it would raise rates significantly and it would take half-a-trillion dollars out of Medicare.
“I think the real issue here, as it relates to health care, is that people want it to not cost so much and people want to have access to it. I think there is a consensus of agreement that the health care that is delivered in America is good. But it’s not easy to get it and it’s too expensive when you do get it.”
Asked if there were any parts of the bill he liked, Crist said:
“I don’t think a whole lot. Watching the discussion yesterday (Thursday) you get a chance to sort of see more of it be ferreted out. You know, I’m the kind of guy … I’m pragmatic. The stimulus is a great example. We needed the money. Every other Republican governor took it, too. I was just maybe a little more honest and straight forward about it. Well, shame on me for being honest. But, you know, as it relates to health care, if there are good ideas, I’m willing to look at them. And I would take that same approach to any issue in Washington.”
Asked again if there were any parts he liked he said:
“Not at present. No.”
Not one good idea?
“There may be. There may be. You know, I’m pretty focused on Florida right now. I mean, after the session I’ll be more focused on the issues in Washington. But I’ve got to do my first job first.”
In an interview Friday with The Palm Beach Post Editorial Board, Gov. Crist not only was eager to defend Florida’s acceptance of $15 billion in stimulus money from the Obama administration, he wouldn’t throw President Obama under a bus festooned with Tea Party bumper stickers.
Asked whether he agreed with the labels some Tea Partiers have plastered on Mr. Obama — communist, fascist, tyrant — Gov. Crist said, “I don’t think any labels are justified.” Asked about criticism that, as governor, he hasn’t done enough to bring down unemployment, Mr. Crist said he’s doing everything he can, including taking the stimulus money, which he said had saved 87,000 jobs in Florida. Gov. Crist extended the same courtesy to Mr. Obama, declining to blame the president for high unemployment rate. He said Mr. Obama is doing the best he can.
Sen. Mike Haridopolos and Rep. Dean Cannon – on tap to be the next Senate President and House Speaker – aren’t coughing up their state GOP-issued credit card statements, the pair said in a press release today.
“While the media is now calling for the release of many of the Party’s internal financial records, it is our firm belief that the professional auditors should be allowed to do their job without the interference of a media circus surrounding the release of any records,” Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, and Cannon, R-Winter Park, said in the release.
The leaders-to-be issued the release after former House Speaker Marco Rubio’s American Express statements were leaked to the media earlier this week, causing embarrassment for Rubio’s U.S. Senate campaign and glee for his GOP primary opponent Gov. Charlie Crist.
Crist has said that the Republican Party of Florida books should be opened up because of questionable spending by RPOF staff. The party’s spending was among the reasons former state GOP boss Jim Greer was forced out last month.
New RPOF Chairman Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonville, ordered an audit of the party’s books to begin on Monday.
The Democratic National Committee released a second video highlighting U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio’s state GOP party-issued credit card spending when Rubio was Florida House Speaker.
The Dems’ attack ad is curious, however, because it appears to promote Rubio’s opponent Gov. Charlie Crist.
Interspersed with newsclips from MSNBC and FoxNews are interviews with Crist in which he criticizes Rubio’s AmEx spending and comments that if Rubio doesn’t like the flak, “That’s too bad. Welcome to the NFL.”
Rubio racked up nearly $110,000 on his Republican Party of Florida American Express card -including expenditures for items like Internet music, wine and repairs to his family mini-van – that are raising eyebrows on TV news shows nationwide.
The first ad is a take-off on the MasterCard “Priceless” marketing campaign. It also ends with the RPOF’s Tallahassee street address and advises watchers to send their credit card bills there.
It’s no secret that the Florida U.S. Senate race has captured the attention of the national media and is a crucial race for both parties.
But much of the focus has been on the GOP primary featuring Gov. Charlie Crist, who is leaving office after only one term to pursue the post, and former House Speaker Marco Rubio, the first Cuban-American speaker of the Florida House whose somber face ran on the cover of The New York Times Sunday magazine not long ago, prompting Crist’s campaign to dub him “New York Times Cover Boy.”
While Rubio and Crist slug it out (and it’s getting uglier every day), U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the Democrat who will likely face off against one of them in November, has been busily stumping around the state gathering petition signatures in the hopes of becoming the first U.S. Senate candidate from Florida ever to qualify by petition.
“It looks like an act of financial desperation when you’re charging a $7 sandwich at Chik-fil-a. That doesn’t sound like sound financial management of your personal income,” Crist said in an interview Friday with The Palm Beach Post editorial board.
In an hour-long interview (video here), Crist hit on a range of subjects, including:
*Running as an independent: Crist said political advisers have raised the possibility, but said he will not change parties.
*Ethics reform: He will suggest criminal penalties in state law for public corruption, a topic he will address in his State of the State speech on Tuesday.
*Oil drilling: Crist said he was not convinced drilling on the state’s shores could be done safely. “Not yet, but I’m close,” he said.
*Health care reform: Crist said he would not “start from scratch” like many Washington D.C. Republicans have suggested to President Obama. Instead, Crist said he would remove any parts of the bill that would raise taxes, raise rates or take money out of Medicare.
Capitalizing on the scandal erupting over the state GOP’s credit card spending, national Democrats released a video take-off of the MasterCard “Priceless” television campaign.
“Getting your personal bills paid for by the Republican Party of Florida like Marco Rubio: Priceless,” the Democratic National Committee video mocks.
The state GOP may get some unwanted mail as a result of the “Priceless” satire.
“Want your bills paid for by the Republican Party of Florida? Just send them in. 420 E. Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32301,” it concludes.
The DNC ad targets Rubio at a time when the once-long-shot candidate’s popularity is soaring while his GOP primary opponent Gov. Charlie Crist’s is on the wane.
While the expense showed up on the Republican AmEx, Rubio paid the tab at Churchill’s Barber Shop himself and never charged it to the state GOP, a Rubio spokesman Alex Burgos said today.
Still, the expenditure generated the kind of tonsorial attention lavished on Bill Clinton for his Christophe-administered Air Force One clip job in 1993 or John “Two Americas” Edwards for his $400 coiffures during the 2008 presidential campaign.
House budget chief David Rivera is abandoning his state Senate run and jumping into the race for Congress to replace U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who’s switching seats.
Rivera, a Miami Republican close to former House Speaker Marco Rubio, made the announcement this morning.
Senate Majority Leader Alex Diaz de la Portilla is expected to get into the race but took an uncharacteristically subtle approach to Rivera’s decision with the following statement, entitled “First Things First.”
With the beginning of the 2010 legislative session just days away and unemployment in the double-digits and a $3 billion budget gap to close, DLP says he’s going to focus on the issues at hand.
The Majority Leader’s primary job is to ensure that Republicans have the votes they need to pass leaders’ priority bills.
“As Senate Majority Leader, these issues weigh heavily on my shoulders each and every day because I know how they impact families and small businesses across our state. It would be unfair to Floridians for me to take my focus off finding real solutions to the problems we are facing and instead turn my attention to my next campaign or career opportunity. As I continue the process of deciding whether to seek higher office, I will not make my decision based on the artificial pressures of time or the actions of others. Instead, I am humbled by the grassroots supports and will continue to receive input from my friends, family and supporters and I will announce my decision when the time is right,” Diaz de la Portilla wrote.
Both of the GOP Cuban-American lawmakers from Miami are term-limited out of office this year.
The Florida Supreme Court overturned a death sentence for Alwin Tumblin, convicted of murdering a Ft. Pierce auto shop owner in 2004.
The 5-2 ruling also threw out all the convictions associated with the robbery and murder of Jimmy Johns and ordered a new trial for Tumblin.
It is the fifth death sentence the Supreme Court has thrown out in the past four years.
Justices Charles Canady and Ricky Polston, both appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist, dissented.
Tumblin’s accomplice Anthony Mayes testified against Tumblin and provided the only eyewitness testimony to the crimes. There was no DNA evidence linking Tumblin, then 25, to the murder.
The high court ruled that Tumblin’s previous trial should have ended in a mistrial because St. Lucie County Deputy Dennis Smith’s testimony that Mayes was telling the truth could have tainted the jury’s decision.
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 by Michael C. Bender
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio acknowledged tonight that he put $16,000 in personal expenses on a Republican Party of Florida credit card he was issued while he was in the Florida House. Rubio says he made direct payments to American Express for those charges.
In a letter released tonight, Rubio blames his primary opponent, Gov. Charlie Crist for leaking the statement, which Rubio says at least one media outlet has in its possession.
There have been rumors that Rubio made questionable purchases, but Rubio does not say exactly what those were. The relevant paragraph:
During the period in question, there was no formal process provided by the Party regarding personal charges made on an AMEX account. At no time during my four years as a cardholder did the party ask me to provide additional information about, or personally pay, any of the charges I submitted for payment. I always took it upon myself to identify and directly pay American Express for all non-official expenses. During the two-year period in question, I made $16,052.50 in direct payments to AMEX to cover non-party related expenditures.
To the greatest extent possible, I made sure the Party never paid for any personal charges. In fact, all of my statements were- at least I certainly hope they were- reviewed and approved by former Chairman Jim Greer or others designated by him.
Sheriff Morris Young of Gadsden County announced today he’s backing state Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, in the Democratic primary for attorney general.
Young is the 13th Florida sheriff to endorse Aronberg, who has sought to boost his law enforcement cred against primary rival Dan Gelber, a state Senator from Miami Beach who is a former federal prosecutor.
Aronberg’s sheriff endorsements include Palm Beach County’s Ric Bradshaw and St. Lucie County’s Ken Mascara and the sheriffs of Calhoun, Jackson, Citrus, Hamilton, Wakulla, Alachua, Glades, Hendry, Baker and Bradford counties.
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