Two years ago, Charlie Crist was the rock star of the Republican Governors Association's annual meeting, having bucked the anti-GOP backlash in 2006 to win election in the nation's biggest battleground state. Crist was a populist success story who had garnered unprecedented support from black voters for a Republican running statewide.
The following year, Crist had lost a bit of his luster. Republican presidential nominee John McCain had lost Florida and the election, while the state's unemployment rate was climbing on Crist's watch.
This year, Crist's star power seems to have totally evaporated. The national media has quit listing him as a potential presidential contender in 2012. Politico even lumped him with a disgraced philanderer: South Carolina's Mark Sanford and Florida's Charlie Crist enjoyed prominent roles at past governors conferences, but had a muted presence here; neither spoke at any of the public events held and slipped in and out quietly. Sanford, whose extramarital affair may yet lead to impeachment by a legislature dominated by his own party, was a cautionary tale about the scandals that have plagued Republicans in recent years. And in the suddenly stumbling Crist — who is facing a primary challenge from the right in his Senate bid from former state House Speaker Marco Rubio — stood a reminder of the simmering ideological chasm between pragmatists and conservatives that threatens to limit potential GOP gains next year.
Related posts: