Crist on renewed attention: "What's up with that?"
Charlie Crist was a rising Republican star whose endorsement was coveted in the run-up to FLorida’s 2008 GOP presidential primary. He threw his support behind John McCain the weekend before the primary, helping McCain win Florida and effectively clinch the GOP nomination.
Four years later, Crist is a GOP pariah — but his name is hot again in the week before the Republican primary. Newt Gingrich suggested GOP establishment favorite Mitt Romney is like Crist, whose moderate brand of Republicanism fell from favor in 2010 and led Crist to bolt the GOP to pursue a failed Senate bid against Florida’s new rising Republican star, Marco Rubio.
PostOnPolitics caught up with Crist today and asked how he feels about having his name bandied about before the primary.
“What’s up with that?” Crist said. “Maybe that matters to some people. It sure doesn’t matter to me. I mean, I can’t even vote in the Republican primary. I’m an independent.”
Crist, who attended Monday night’s GOP debate in Tampa, said the race has been “anything but dull,” but he declined to offer any specific observations on the 2012 candidates or the GOP race.
“You know what? I am going to hesitate to inject myself into the primary,” Crist said. “I’ll let the candidates handle their own campaigns.”
Arizona Sen. John McCain, who effectively ended Mitt Romney‘s 2008 presidential hopes by defeating him in that year’s Florida primary, will hit the campaign trail for Romney on Thursday.
McCain will appear at town hall meetings in Sun City and Madeira Beach in the Tampa Bay area.
No immediate word on whether Romney will attend, but it seems unlikely considering he’s participating in a CNN debate in Jacksonville that night.
The 12-point lead that Mitt Romney enjoyed two weeks ago in Florida has disintegrated, says a new Quinnipiac University poll that finds the Republican primary a virtual tie between Romney and surging South Carolina winner Newt Gingrich.
The poll — conducted Thursday through Monday — shows Romney getting 36 percent support from likely GOP primary voters and Gingrich getting 34 percent. The poll has a 4 percent margin of error. Rick Santorum gets 13 percent and Ron Paul 10 percent. Among voters surveyed after Saturday’s South Carolina primary, Gingrich leads Romney 40 percent to 34 percent.
Gingrich’s Florida surge comes even as Republicans believe, by a 49-to-35 percent margin, that Romney would be better able to defeat President Obama in the general election.
LEHIGH ACRES — Standing in front of one of the many foreclosed homes in this Lee County community, Mitt Romney blasted President Obama‘s stewardship of the economy and slammed GOP rival Newt Gingrich for “influence peddling” for troubled mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
“This president has failed America and failed Florida,” Romney said to a crowd of about 250.
Romney appeared with a man who said he recently lost his home because of a mix-up with his bank. Romney called it an example of how banks are “overwhelmed” by the Dodd-Frank bill and other regulations.
“So banks are scared to death to write down loans for fear that it’ll make them go insolvent. Banks are having a hard time. At the very time we wanted banks to be more flexible and creative and helping people stay in their homes, banks have become less flexible, less creative, more insistent on foreclosure,” Romney said.
“The right course for America is to have a president who understands how to help our lending institutions be creative and find ways to keep people who can meet their payments stay in their homes, and I’ll do that.”
Romney supporter Brent Narog of Pinellas Park wears a button from George Romney's 1968 presidential bid on his chest and a "Boot Newt" button near his collar.
TAMPA — Appearing in a shuttered gypsum board plant in front of a sign that said “Obama Isn’t Working,” Mitt Romney slammed President Obama‘s economic policies in a “prebuttal” to tonight’s State of the Union address.
Obama is expected to outline policies to create an “America Built to Last.”
“The President’s agenda sounds less like ‘built to last’ and more like ‘doomed to fail,’ ” Romney told about 100 supporters who gathered in a cavernous National Gypsum Company warehouse that closed in 2008.
Romney released tax returns this morning showing he made about $42.5 million in 2010 and 2011, paid about $6.2 million in taxes and gave away $7 million in contributions to his church and charities.
Romney didn’t address the tax returns or his wealth in his remarks, but said: “Ours is the party of free enterprise, free markets, and consumer choice. The Republican Party stands for personal responsibility and equal opportunity. We don’t demonize prosperity. We celebrate success.”
Romney campaigns later today in Lehigh Acres, an area hit hard by the housing foreclosure crisis.
TAMPA — During one of his characteristic name-dropping riffs in Monday night’s GOP debate, Newt Gingrich said he “went to a Goldwater organizing session in 1964,” first met Ronald Reagan in 1974 and worked with supply side icons Jack Kemp and Art Laffer in the late 1970s.
The reference to Barry Goldwater‘s 1964 campaign is an important one for conservatives. Though Goldwater was buried by LBJ in a general election landslide that year, Goldwater’s campaign contributed to the rise of Reagan (his “Time for Choosing” speech was made on Goldwater’s behalf) and is regarded as the moment when the GOP began embracing conservatism rather than the more liberal brand of Republicanism symbolized at the time by New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller.
Note that Gingrich merely said he went to a Goldwater meeting. The Drudge Report this morning has unearthed a 1988 clip of Gingrich saying he was “a Rockefeller state chairman in the South.”
It wasn’t quite as far off the charts as his third quarter haul of $1.96 million, but U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, raised a staggering $1.75 million during the fourth quarter, his campaign said today.
West, known for spending big sums on direct mail, begins 2012 with $2.7 million in cash on hand, according to a campaign press release.
Based on the press release and past Federal Election Commission reports, it appears West spent about $800,000 between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. Fourth-quarter FEC reports are due Jan. 31.
West has raised about $5.85 million overall for his reelection. Democrats Lois Frankel and Patrick Murphy have raised about $1.4 million apiece in hopes of defeating West.
With redistricting likely to push West into a Democratic-leaning congressional seat, West’s latest fundraising haul will probably fuel more chatter about West jumping into the Republican U.S. Senate primary for the right to challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. West has repeatedly rejected such suggestions.
TAMPA — With two new polls showing Newt Gingrich pulling ahead of Mitt Romney in Florida, all signs suggest Romney will come out swinging against Gingrich in tonight’s GOP presidential debate from the University of South Florida campus.
The Romney campaign released a new ad today saying that “while Florida families lost everything in the housing crisis, Newt Gingrich cashed in” — a reference to the $1.6 million in consulting fees Gingrich pulled in from mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
Romney surrogates Tim Pawlenty and Florida House Speaker-designate Will Weatherford pounded Gingrich on Freddie Mac in a morning conference call. And Romney himself told reporters this morning that Gingrich needs to release records of his Freddie Mac work and from his late-1990s House ethics probe to head off unpleasant surprises before the general election in November.
Two polls today show South Carolina come-from-behind winner Newt Gingrich erasing big Mitt Romney leads and moving into first place in Florida’s Republican primary race.
The latest is from Rasmussen Reports, a trusted firm for many Republicans. Calling Romney’s past big lead “ancient history,” Rasmussen finds Gingrich with 41 percent to 32 percent for Romney.
Earlier this morning, an Insider Advantage poll also showed Gingrich with a 36-to-24 percent lead over Romney.
Part 1 of Newt Gingrich‘s Florida strategy — winning the South Carolina’s primary — went according to plan on Saturday.
Part 2 of the Gingrich plan is to convert the South Carolina momentum to cash that can be used to by television time in Florida’s 10 media markets.
The Gingrich camp said this morning it raised more than $1 million in the first 24 hours after the South Carolina win. The campaign is also pointing to an Insider Advantage poll that shows Gingrich with a 34-to-26 percent lead over Mitt Romney in Florida.
The four remaining GOP presidential contestants will debate tonight in Tampa.
ORMOND BEACH – Mitt Romney got big applause here tonight when he scolded some hecklers who interrupted his remarks during a rally at a lumber yard.
PostOnPolitics couldn’t make out exactly what the hecklers were saying aside from the phrase “We are the people.”
“No, actually, these are the people,” Romney said, referring to the hundreds of supporters listening to his remarks. “These are the people. You are the interrupters. We believe in the Constitution, we believe in the right of speech and you believe in interrupting. Take a hike.”
It was part of an event in which Romney ripped South Carolina primary winner Newt Gingrich‘s ethics and post-congressional stint as a $1.6 million consultant to mortgage giant Freddie Mac. Read about it here.
Romney plans to milk the Freddie Mac issue some more. His campaign has scheduled a conference call on it for Monday morning.
With the South Carolina Republican presidential primary over, the GOP’s nomination fight moves to the potentially decisive Sunshine State for two debates this week — Monday in Tampa, Thursday in Jacksonville — and the Jan. 31 Florida primary.
At least two GOP candidates will be campaigning in Florida today. Rick Santorum will be in Broward County to visit Rev. O’Neal Dozier‘s Worldwide Christian Center in Pompano Beach this morning and then attend a 2 p.m. rally at Wings Plus in Coral Springs. Mitt Romney has a 5:30 p.m. rally scheduled in Ormond Beach.
As of late Saturday, South Carolina victor Newt Gingrich had not announced any public events in Florida for today.
But Gingrich is clearly focused on the Sunshine State. Not long after the polls closed in the Palmetto State, Gingrich’s campaign website was urging visitors to help raise $1 million for a “Knockout Punch Moneybomb In Florida.”
DWS calls Mitt "out of touch with the middle class."
It’s not just the Republican Party establishment that believes in Mitt Romney‘s inevitability.
Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has weighed in on tonight’s South Carolina Republican primary results with a statement that blisters Romney and doesn’t mention Palmetto State victor Newt Gingrich. It’s clear that Democrats expect President Obama to be facing Romney in the fall.
The Broward County congresswoman says tonight’s results show Romney has been “exposed as being out of touch with the middle class, and voters are seeing that he lives by another set of rules. He’s refused to level with voters, and now he’s in trouble. Anyone who goes into a state with a significant double digit lead yet ends up losing that support in a week, is someone who is failing to connect.”
Read Wasserman Schultz’s entire statement after the jump…
Gingrich outlined his South Carolina strategy for Florida during his Jan. 13 to Cafe Versailles in Miami.
When he visited Florida last week, Newt Gingrich said the key to his success in the Sunshine State’s Jan. 31 primary would be a victory in South Carolina to slow down frontrunner Mitt Romney.
“All of it depends on winning in South Carolina,” Gingrich said in the parking lot at Cafe Versailles in Miami on Jan. 13. “That stops all of Romney’s momentum and you’re going to see, I think, a very substantial change here….
“Watch next Saturday. If I win in South Carolina, it is a whole new game here in Florida.”
Next Saturday has arrived. The polls have just closed in the Palmetto State, and exit polls make it appear that the South Carolina piece of Gingrich’s Florida strategy is falling into place. That means Florida will play the important role Republican leaders wanted when they bucked the national GOP’s calendar and set a Jan. 31 primary to get a jump on most other states. And that means two upcoming Florida debates — Monday in Tampa, Thursday in Jacksonville — should be high-stakes affairs.
State Attorney Michael McAuliffe said this morning that he plans to leave office sometime before his term expires in January 2013.
McAuliffe shocked the local political world this week when he announced he would not seek reelection this year and would instead take a job with Oxbow Carbon, a West Palm Beach-based energy company headed by billionaire Bill Koch.
Today, McAuliffe told The Palm Beach Post he will leave office before his term is up, but he said he has not set a date for his departure.
“Understandably the company wants and needs me before January of 2013 and so, as a result, I will be unable to complete my full term,” McAUliffe said in a brief interview. He said he’ll announce a specific departure date “when it’s appropriate….The goal is to have an orderly transition in this office so that the work proceeds uninterrupted.”
McAuliffe just sent this message to his staff:
I know it has been a difficult week – at least with regard to unforeseen news about my status and intentions. I thank you for your many, many words and messages of support and encouragement. I am indebted to you. As I stated to some already, understandably the company I will join wants and needs me before January 2013. As a result, I will not be able to complete my full term of office. I am finalizing a transition plan and time table. You will be the first to know the specifics. The plan and time table will ensure a smooth, thoughtful path for the change. As you know, the office is much, much more than any individual including the office holder. Please stay focused on what you do so well – prosecuting individuals for crimes committed in our community.
LAKE BUENA VISTA — With a symbol of Florida’s tourism industry as his backdrop, President Obama today declared that “America is open for business” for foreign tourists who want to spend money here but are hindered by delays and red tape.
Obama announced that his administration is taking steps to increase international tourism, including processing more visas from China and Brazil. He made the announcement on Main Street USA in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom with the iconic Cinderella Castle in the background. The area was shut down to regular park patrons and open only to invited guests during Obama’s remarks.
“More money spent by more tourists means more businesses can hire more workers. It’s a pretty simple formula. And that’s why we’re all here today — to tell the world that America is open for business,” said Obama, who spoke for about 15 minutes.
Former U.S. Rep. and 2010 Democratic Senate nominee Kendrick Meek is endorsing Lois Frankel‘s congressional bid.
Democrat Frankel is running in a primary against Patrick Murphy for the seat of U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation.
Meek cited his longstanding friendship with Frankel going back to their days in the Florida legislature, adding “I know of no better person to take on Allen West and replace his extreme obstructionism with a proven leader who can get things done.”
It would have been a shocker if Meek backed Murphy. Murphy got a $1,000 contribution from former Gov. Charlie Crist, whose independent bid for Senate in 2010 siphoned votes from Meek. Murphy’s consultant, Eric Johnson, was a strategist for Crist’s campaign.
Obama will be in Magic Kingdom today; Sen. Nelson will be in Sarasota and Manatee counties.
LAKE BUENA VISTA — As President Obama prepares to announce a tourism initiative at Walt Disney World today, Republicans say the official visit is really just an effort to shore up his sagging poll numbers in the critical Sunshine State.
“It looks like our president is at it again with yet another taxpayer-paid campaign day,” said Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus this morning on a conference call. “It’s amazing that this president seems to find himself every day in battleground states across America paid for by the taxpayers. He doesn’t seem to end up in Montana or Nebraska very often…It’s a campaign trip to a very important battleground state of Florida where the president is doing very poorly.”
Obama carried Florida with 51 percent in 2008, but polls show him running even with Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney now. Obama’s job disapproval rating has been above 50 percent in the last four Quinnipiac University polls of Florida voters going back to September.
“His approval rating in Florida looks like one of the drops in Space Mountain,” Priebus said.
Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry joined Priebus on the call and accused Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who’s up for reelection this year, of “running scared” because Nelson is attending events in Sarasota and Manatee counties today and won’t be joining Obama. A Nelson spokesman on Wednesday said accusations that Nelson is ducking the president are “bologna.”
Republican Gov. Rick Scott has disapproval ratings about even with Obama in Florida.
“He’s not on the ballot, No. 1. The president’s on the ballot,” said Priebus, who also said he thinks Scott is doing a good job.
Saying he’s “deeply concerned and disappointed” by Republican attacks on presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney, Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, said he has decided to break his silence on the race and endorse Romney before Florida’s Jan. 31 primary.
“We have been fortunate in this Republican Presidential Primary to have many solid candidates,” Haridopolos said in a statement “I was not planning to publicly endorse a candidate before the Florida primary. However, I have grown deeply concerned and disappointed about the attacks being launched on Mitt Romney by other candidates. I believe we are the party of better ideas. We need to focus on the positive ideas that our party can bring to the policy arena and not simply attack our political adversaries, both Republican and Democrat.”
Haridopolos backed Mike Huckabee before Florida’s 2008 primary.
House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, endorsed Rick Perry for president last year. Gov. Rick Scott hasn’t made an endorsement.
Read Haridopolos’ complete statement after the jump….
The Democrat heading efforts to recapture the U.S. House of Representatives said the party won’t take sides or try to push a candidate out of a potentially expensive Palm Beach-Broward congressional primary between Lois Frankel and Patrick Murphy.
Frankel and Murphy, who have opened campaigns for the seat of U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, have raised about $1.4 million apiece and are among the best-financed Democratic candidates in the nation. Both were named today to the Dems’ “Red to Blue” program, which assists candidates and steers national donors toward races where Democrats believe they have the best chance of winning GOP-held seats.
Many Democrats, including Palm Beach County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel, have said they hope either Frankel or Murphy runs elsewhere to avoid a costly primary that might hurt the party’s chances of defeating national fundraising juggernaut West.
“We do prefer that we not squander resources in a head-to-head primary,” said U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., who heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
But Israel said the national party won’t try to influence such a move because such efforts have “almost a 100 percent failure rate.”
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