Could Charlie Crist Help Revitalize the FDP?

RPOF Ad On FDP Response to Crist Switch

The subject of Charlie Crist looms like the elephant in the room on both the Republican and Democratic sides of the proverbial aisle. Crist irritates the Republicans because they fear his popularity and teflon image. Crist enrages Democrats because he’s not only a party-switcher but was once a partisan “Ronald Reagan” Conservative. But with a Democratic Party that is irrecoverably broken statewide, Crist could prove part of the solution. But first, before we go there it is important to review Crist’s history as a Republican.

To doubt Charlie Crist was once a partisan Republican is foolhardy, and would involve a significant re-writing of  the recent political history of the state. In 1995, as State Senator he held up Governor Lawton Chiles most critical administrative appointments until the final day of session for strictly political reasons. Crist’s goal was the injure the Governor’s ability to use the bully pulpit while the new GOP Senate majority used legislative session tpo0 push a right-wing agenda being directed by losing Gubernatorial candidate Jeb Bush.   The same year he initiated a Senate investigation of campaign calls made by the Chiles campaign, at great expense to the taxpayers. In the long history of political campaigns, dirty tricks have been conducted over and over again, and Chiles’ calls were not out of the ordinary. In the very same election GOP nominee Jeb Bush accused Governor Chiles of being soft on crime while shamelessly exploiting the family of a murder victim in a TV ad. But it was Chiles that was accused of dirty tricks by Crist, in a politically motivated investigation which cost the taxpayers millions of dollars and netted very little in the way of actual facts.

The same year, Crist brazenly observed the first chain-gang in the state since the 1960s. The legislation he authored was being enforced, and for that first chain-gang alongside I-10 in Suwanee County Crist showed up in full suit and tie to “mark the occasion.”  In 1996, he helped lead the Republican opposition to Governor Chiles landmark lawsuit against the Tobacco Industry and then a year later, Crist conducted another partisan witch hunt, this time against the attorneys who bravely represented the state in the Tobacco Lawsuit. In a twist of irony, some of those same lawyers have become political allies of the more moderate 2000s version of Crist.

By 1997, Crist was firmly viewed within the halls of the Legislature as a show horse and a partisan. But beginning with the 1998 US Senate race, Crist began a transformation from partisan Republican to political pragmatist who felt the pulse of Florida’s electorate. Crist’s advocacy on the environment and insurance reform have been in particular noteworthy for progressives. In fact, by 1998 Crist was redefining his image, pushing Everglades restoration and forcefully advocating the state pay compensation in the racially charged Pitts and Lee case. This case continued to be a big issue in the Panhandle for years, and Crist’s forcefulness on it won him friends in the African-American community but began a long alienation from conservatives.

For almost 15 years, Crist has been for lack of a better term a populist. In this day and age populism can mean anything from Rick Santorum’s attacks on snobs and intellectuals, or Dennis Kucinch’s attacks on war mongers. But for Crist, populism is simply reacting to the nuances and anger of Florida voters, be it on gas prices, insurance rates or education cuts. As Attorney General Crist began re-opening many Civil Rights cases that had been ignored by previous Democrats that served in the top law enforcement office in the state. He also much to the consternation of Jeb Bush pushed for an investigation of price gouging in the petroleum industry and more or less stayed out of the Terry Schiavo fiasco.

When Crist ran for Governor in 2006, he was already being seen by many conservatives a s a “RINO” and thus he started claiming he was a Jeb Bush or Ronald Reagan Republican. But as a Governor his record was far to the left of Jeb Bush’s taking on the Insurance Industry,  restoring felon rights, making voting more accessible for all Floridians and vetoing controversial education and abortion bills.  Because of this record and other factors, many Democrats who are desperate for any kind of success on the state level are ready to accept Crist with open arms, but they must be given sufficient cover by the former Governor himself.

With the Democrats suffering from a lack of a cohesive message over many years, perhaps Crist can help define an ideology for a party that has for years been adrift on the state level.  For the better part of 15 years a Democratic Party that in Florida has lacked any coherent message or policy vision other than attacking Republican officeholders and in some cases trying to distance themselves from National Democrats.  The weakness of the FDP and most local DEC’s promoted a free-for-all among elected officials to accrue influence and in many cases to cut deals with local or Tallahassee-based Republicans. This has been true as well of consultants working for the state party who double dip as lobbyists in front of the Republican dominated legislature.

Additionally, Crist’s switch may well bring fresh faces and new ideas into the party hierarchy, something desperately needed. The Democrats in Florida have since 2000 accumulated a worse record in elections for state office than any other Democratic Party east of the Mississippi. Crist in fact has more statewide victories for cabinet office (3) than the entire Democratic Party does (1) since 2000. Crist has proven he can win statewide elections and understands the statewide electorate.

While serious questions need to be asked about Crist, it is probably unwise for progressives to start firing at him at this point in time. Let the bitter RPOF operatives do that, while we figure out if the former Governor can play a meaningful and constructive role in restructuring and rebuilding the Democrats into a statewide force. That does not mean anointing Crist as our statewide leader just yet, but he does need a seat at the table.