Rick Scott is BCS-bound. And Charlie Crist?

Notre Dame or Alabama?

Gov. Rick Scott is going to tonight's BCS Championship game in Miami but isn't choosing a side.

"I like the fact that it's in Florida," he said earlier today in Washington. "My wife was born in Mobile," Alabama, he went on. "But when I was running (for governor in 2010) a reporter asked me who my favorite Florida football team was. I said, 'I like all the teams.' The next day he said, 'This guy doesn't know anything about Florida football."

"I like all the teams. I'm just glad it's in Florida."

Charlie Crist was invited to the game by the Democratic Governors' Association. No confirmation if he's attending. In a brief conversation about a possible challenge from Crist, Scott said he would continue to lowering Florida' unemployment rate and improving education. "I'm going to just keep doing what I'm doing."

Posted by Alex Leary

NRA: Charlie Crist a hunter? Maybe for political office, not deer

As he postures to run against Republican Gov. Rick Scott, newly minted Democrat and former Gov. Charlie Crist no longer wholeheartedly backs the NRA's agenda.

So Crist will no longer get the backing of the NRA.

Asked about Crist's gun flip flop yesterday, the NRA's Florida lobbyist and chief Marion Hammer took rhetorical aim.

"Are you surprised?" she said in an email to The Herald. "I'm not surprised that Charlie Crist is now joining the gun ban chant of anti-gun Democrats. Recently, Charlie Crist has been systematically turning his back on many things in which he has claimed to believe. He currently claims to be a deer hunter. I suspect that the only thing he has actually ever hunted is political office."

Crist was quite good at that, winning three statewide posts and only losing two statewide Senate races: a longshot 1998 bid against incumbent Bob Graham and the once-surprising 2010 loss to Marco Rubio.

The NRA backed Crist over Rubio.

But other events, the economy and the highly conservative electorate that year, overtook the governor. But for the events leading up to the Rubio loss, Crist had a sixth sense for perfectly positioning himself. So, in that regard, his shifted tone on guns is little surprise as he tries to boost his Democratic bonafides. Chances are, most gun voters are conservative and wouldn't have voted for the Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat Crist. 

Crist needs to appeal to liberals now, and reversing course on guns is just another star turn as he prepares to challenge Scott, who's now an easy pick for the NRA. Hammer said she doesn't regret backing Crist.

"At the time, he was steadfast in his support of the rights of law-abiding gun owners. We remain loyal to our supporters," she said. "If our supporters abandon the Second Amendment for political posturing or political gain, it's a whole new day."

Until now, Crist had a sterling NRA rating on guns while he was governor. But his actual firearm aim isn't so good. At least it wasn't in 2009, when Crist took a trip to the Tallahassee-area Beau Turner Youth Conservation Center with the namesake and his dad, media mogul Ted Turner (picture left). Crist was better with a bow and arrow than a 20-gauge shotgun. Like many people unfamiliar with target shooting clay pigeons, Crist didn't follow through on his shot.

In other Florida gun news, the state sometime yesterday issued its 1 millionth active concealed-weapon permit. We probably would have heard far more about the permits had the recent shooting taken place in Florida than Connecticut, which has far more restrictive laws than the Gunshine State (more about that here).

Flop-flop alert: Charlie Crist reverses course on gun control, now backs it

Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who throughout his long political career has been staunchly pro-gun rights, said Wednesday that after the Connecticut school slayings, he now backs controls.

He expressed support for a renewed assault weapons ban, a size limit on ammunition clips and tougher background checks.

“We need to have some restrictions, that’s pretty obvious to most people,” Crist told the Tampa Bay Times prior to testifying before a Senate panel on voting laws. “What do you need a 30-clip magazine for?

“Not to go hunting deer. I can tell you that because I hunt deer.”

Crist recently became a Democrat and is considering a challenge to Gov. Rick Scott, who long has favored gun rights. Scott has refused to comment on gun measures after the Connecticut shootings, saying it is too early to debate.

More here

Charlie Crist trashes Rick Scott in Sen. hearing for vote suppression, turning FL into a ‘late-night TV joke”

Former Gov. Charlie Crist bashed Gov. Rick Scott twice by name during a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday for signing an election law that helped suppress the vote and turn Florida into a “late-night TV joke.”

Crist’s Senate Judiciary Committee testimony came just hours after the release of a new poll showing he’s more popular than the current governor, who is preparing to face his predecessor – a Republican-turned Democrat -- in the 2014 elections.

Scott earlier Wednesday acknowledged on CNN that some fixes might be needed for the election law he signed in 2011. That law cut back the days of in-person early voting and helped make the ballot longer, which led to long lines.

More here

Crist's run-from-the-past run continues (gay-marriage edition)

From Republican to independent to Democrat, Charlie Crist has run the gamut of major political affiliations since 2010. As a statewide office-seeker since 1998, the former Republican governor became an independent when he couldn't beat Marco Rubio in a GOP Senate primary. So Crist became an independent.

Crist now sees a good shot at unseating unpopular incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Scott in 2014.

But he needs to be a Democrat to do it. And he needs to explain some of his past conservative positions.

Today, Crist officially became a Democrat when he registered with the party before posing for pictures with several Pinellas County elections workers. "You know what I will call you three? Charlie's angels," he told three of the staffers.

Get ready for more of that, voters: Crist's treacly one-liners vs. Scott's aloof awkwardness. It's gonna be a helluva battle of style, with a little substance thrown in. Of course, Crist needs to run and win in what could be a crowded Democratic primary.

Private poll: Crist has big lead in Democratic primary

A new private poll of 1,000 Democratic voters gives former Gov. Charlie Crist an overwhelming advantage over all other Democrats in a hypothetical primary for governor, including a 21-point lead in a test matchup against Alex Sink, the party's 2010 nominee.

Neither Crist nor Sink has announced plans to run for governor. The poll concludes that Crist is far better known than Sink and that 75 percent of Democrats believe he has the best chance of beating Republican Gov. Rick Scott in 2014. 

In a coincidence of timing, about half of the poll was done before Crist's Dec. 7 announcement that he was becoming a Democrat, and half was conducted afterward. The poll showed Crist increasing his lead over Sink from 17 points to 25 after his switch became public at a White House holiday reception, for a bottom-line advantage of 21 points (55 percent to 34 percent with 11 percent undecided).

The poll was done for an undisclosed client of ClearView Research from Dec. 4-9, and has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points. ClearView, a market research firm, is run in part by Screven Watson, a former executive director of the Florida Democratic Party and a Tallahassee political operative who said he has no connection to Crist. 

"This was not done to promote or demote anybody," Watson said. "A client had a curiosity. We do not have a dog in this fight."

According to the poll, 79 percent of Democrats have a somewhat or very favorable view of Crist compared to 58 percent for Sink. Crist, a former Republican governor who ran as an independent Senate candidate in 2010, completed his conversion to the Democratic Party Thursday.

The poll tested six other names, all of whom had much lower favorability ratings than Crist or Sink, larggely because they are less well-known: Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler, former Sen. Nan Rich, former Attorney General Bob Butterworth, Florida Democratic Party chairman Rod Smith and former Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio.

Nearly half of voters (47 percent) said they would be "much more likely" to vote for Crist if he were endorsed by Democratic leaders such as former Gov. Bob Graham, Sen. Bill Nelson or President Barack Obama. The poll shows Crist is weakest where the president is, too: among "Dixiecrats," conservative Democrats in North Florida. 

The pollster also offered voters a series of "push" statements that did not affect the results in any statistically significant way. Among the statements: that Crist endorsed Sarah Palin for vice-president in 2008 and campaigned for Obama in 2012; that he "can't be trusted" because he has switched parties and positions so often; that Sink and her husband, Bill McBride, have both run for governor and lost; and that Sink is pro-choice.

-- Steve Bousquet

Crist to file party-switch papers Thursday; media alerted

It's the political photo-op of the year in Tampa Bay.

Former Gov. Charlie Crist will file a change-of-party form and will officially become a Democrat Thursday morning. News media have been alerted that Crist will file the papework at 10:30 a.m. at a Pinellas County elections office at 501 First Ave. N, St. Petersburg. Crist also visited the Pinellas elections office in May 2010, when he filed his Republican "divorce papers," left the GOP and became an independent or unaffiliated voter.

-- Steve Bousquet

RPOF keeps spooling the Crist files

The Republican Party of Florida has turned watching Charlie Crist reels into an art form.

In yet another reprisal of what we have now heard and seen from the party -- dozens of times -- comes their latest video. It's called : the Two Faces of Charlie Crist. The kicker makes clear that the party wants Dems to remember Crist as a Ronald Reagan Republican, not a Democrat. (But that begs the question: if Crist is a Reagan Republican, who else is?)

 

Crist gave to Obama, Nelson and Patrick Murphy

From the News Service of Florida:

Former Gov. Charlie Crist and his wife, Carole, contributed $13,000 to Democratic candidates during the 2012 election cycle, including contributions to President Obama and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, state and federal records show.

Crist, a former Republican who became an independent in 2010, drew national headlines when he signed papers Friday night at the White House to become a registered Democrat. The Crists combined to contribute $2,500 to Obama's successful campaign against Republican Mitt Romney and $1,500 to Nelson's successful re-election bid against Republican Connie Mack, the records show.

The Crists sent the largest amount --- $7,000 --- to Democrat Patrick Murphy, who unseated Republican Congressman Allen West in a south Florida district. Charlie Crist also contributed $1,000 to Democrat Lois Frankel, who defeated Republican Adam Hasner in another south Florida congressional district. The former governor also contributed $500 to Democrat Al Lawson, who lost a north Florida congressional race to incumbent Republican Steve Southerland, and $500 to former Democratic lawmaker Dave Aronberg, who was elected state attorney in Palm Beach County. Along with funneling money to Democratic candidates, Charlie Crist also contributed $500 to the merit-retention campaign of Florida Supreme Court Justice R. Fred Lewis, state records show.

Dept. of Screw Turns: RPOF calls Crist a liar after he becomes a Democrat

We said Monday that the 2014 Florida governor's race was underway.

More evidence emerged last night at the White House, where former Republican-turned-independent Gov. Charlie Crist officially announed he'd become a Democrat. It's no shock, considering all the time he spent on the campaign trail and his speech at the Democrats' convention for President Obama.

Also no surprise: The Republican Party of Florida, a once-pro-Crist political cult that's now a pro-Rick Scott political cult, attacked him as a liar: