It was 1998, back when I was still active in politics, a neo-con having worked on the campaigns of a generally libertarian city mayor. I would eventually repent of my neo-con ways but that was still a few years off. But it was then that I had the chance to shake hands with and speak with Charlie Crist, this year's Democratic party nominee for Florida Governor.
He was running for Senate against Bob Graham, another Democrat. Crist was a Republican back then, and seemed an attractive candidate from a certain neo-con's point of view. That was because like most neo-cons, he didn't shy away from a little "the ends justifies the means". He was known as "chain-gang" Charlie back then because he didn't mind the ethical questions surrounding using convicted criminals for cheap forced labor, even it did cost some law abiding citizens job opportunities. After all it struck a popular chord with voters at a time when Republicans needed as many conservative Democrats to come their way as possible in a Southern state like Florida.
I had reason to hope he'd be one of our champions, so when he attended a Republican County Executive Committee meeting, I was eager to talk to him.
As the meeting ended he stood almost alone in the back, and so my eagerness was mixed with considerable disappointment in my fellow Republicans. They had given up on beating Graham and didn't want to waste any money or effort trying to help Crist. I on the other hand had a bit of a grudge against Graham ever since he refused to condemn the Nicaraguan Sandinistas for their massacre of the Mosquito Indians (It was an issue I later regretted not suggesting Crist run with). So I wanted anybody to beat Graham, and Crist seemed a pretty good anybody at the time.
I shook his hand and introduced myself. He seemed generally likable but there was something I couldn't exactly place that was odd. His hand-shake was neither firm nor soft, though perhaps a little soft, but I wanted it so much to be firm. I wanted him to be the man who could beat Bob Graham, and I did what I could to help his campaign, but unlike the Forbes, Dole, and various mayoral campaigns I had worked on before, there wasn't much for me to do other than stick a bumper-sticker on my bumper and watch him lose.
I supported him for Governor the time he won, and excused his pie in the sky proposals such as paying all teachers six figure salaries, and keeping homeowner's insurance affordable even in major flood zones. I was still a neo-con, and I thought he was just setting goals so lofty as to be impossible so he could say they were his, and thus disarm liberals. It was a classic neo-con tactic on steroids. Where as Bush would actually attempt to take over traditionally perceived as liberal issues and actually try to solve them, Crist would simply make a promise in the same area that no one would fault him for not keeping because of its amazing scale. Crist's tactic seemed to have the beauty of being able to disarm the left without actually doing anything.
But as his time as governor approached its close, a reality began to settle in with me. Crist didn't realize what he was doing. He actually thought his goals were achievable and set out in earnest to do just that. The six figure salary for every teacher had nowhere to go in reality so no harm there, but his insistence on keeping homeowner's insurance rates down in major risk areas chased away private insurers and put the Florida sponsored substitute in financial jeopardy. Florida was and may still be just two major hurricanes away from the state government becoming insolvent. The clever neo-con take on Crist was no longer working for me and I had to start accepting that he was just incompetent at anything other than politics.
As time for him to run for re-election neared I was ready to hold my nose and pull the lever for him, but then came the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back He essentially declared that more could be done for Florida in the US Senate than could be achieved by its own state Governor. In other words he embraced one of the biggest things wrong in the country, the accumulation of power in Washington at the expense of local government. And, knowing his general lack of thought on such matters, even if he just didn't realize what he was saying, the enormity of ignorance that must accompany anyone who could actually be a state governor and think he could achieve more as a US senator is tough to fathom.
Charlie Crist has no legitimate place anywhere near a governor's office, and heaven help us if he should ever manage to move beyond that. I so dearly hope Floridians have the wisdom not to put this man back in the governor's office. Not even my old neo-con self could support him over just about any other Democrat. now that I have repented of my ways and become a libertarian I would encourage my fellow libertarians to not let this become a time to make a statement by being part of the 2% or so that vote for the libertarian. Stopping this politically well packaged incompetent from advancing his career closer to national leadership where he could make Obama look immensely competent by comparison, it's just too important.
I know, you've grown tired of being told you should vote Republican because the Democrat is so much worse, but in this case, it may just be the only time it was true. Check what I believe in. Read my other blog posts. I believe this is that one time if there ever was one. Hold your nose or whatever you have to do and vote for Rick Scott. It could be the most important vote you ever cast, for the entire country, yes even history.
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