Governor Crist: If I Can’t Run As A Republican, I’ll Run Against ‘Em

    Charlie Crist, the one term Republican Governor of Florida who is in the race of his life for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination is prepared to announce on Thursday that he will be running for U.S. Senate as an Independent.

The decision will mark the admission of the fact that he has lost favor among the Republicans whose nomination for the job of Senator he is seeking.

As the establishment Republican in the race, after having physically and politically embraced President Obama and President Obama’s economic policies, Crist has seen a precipitous drop in his polling numbers against his sole opponent for the Republican nomination, former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio.

Once considered a shoo in for not only the nomination but the senate seat itself, Governor Crist currently finds himself as much as 25% behind Rubio, a conservative and representative of the next generation of Republican leaders who is largely viewed as the anti-establishment candidate and the choice of those who are tired of politics as usual.

Rubio’s remarkable come from behind story has been inspirational to those who wish to send a solid voice to D.C., a voice that will respect common sense and the Constitution and stand up against the illogic and gimmicks of Washington politics.

The established trend in the Florida Republican primary shows that all the momentum is behind Rubio and as Crist’s numbers plummet with each and every day, the Governor has been increasingly nagged by questions of more when than if, he losses the Republican senate nomination, will he run as Independent?

The question has been an important one to people who want to bring real change to the “change” that President Barack Obama brought to the nation in 2009. The inevitable Democrat nominee, liberal Congressman Kendrick Meeks has nothing but a small liberal base of support. His name ID throughout the state is far lower than either Crist’s or now Rubio’s, and in Congress, Meeks has established a record for himself that is undistinguishable in any area other than being a strong proponent of the most extreme policy initiatives of President Obama. In a one on one race, those facts would leave Meeks with a small base of votes that would be swamped by Florida’s large moderate and blue dog Democrats, Independents and Republican votes.

However, if after having been rejected by Republicans, Governor Crist remained on the ballot in November and ran in a three way race, he could split a substantial amount of moderate and blue dog Democrats as well as Independents, a situation which would make it possible for Meek’s small but loyal pool of supporters to have a chance of eking out a slim majority and send another liberal voice to Washington, D.C. to support the radical agenda of President Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

On previous occasions, when asked about a possible Independent candidacy, Charlie Crist denied any intention of doing so or planning to do so, stipulating that he was going to be the Republican nominee.

Now that it has become clear that the Governor will not be the Republican nominee, he has decided to change his mind on the issue.

So much for being a man of his convictions.

In the past Crist has said he would support the nominee. He claimed to be dedicated to the Republican principles that are at the heart of the Party. Yet apparently Crist only feels that way if the Republican Party revolves around him.

I dare suggest that if Charlie Crist can not support Marco Rubio as the Republican candidate than what Crist is actually doing is casting even more doubt than there already is regarding just how dedicated to the principles of the Republican Party he is.

Marco Rubio is a fiscal conservative, a defender of the Constitution and a small government innovator who has put together one of the greatest compilations of citizen based solutions to the problems that Florida and our nation faces. When he was Florida’s Speaker of the House, he went on a statewide “Idearasier” that allowed Rubio to put all the ideas of state residents all together in a book called “100 Innovative Ideas For Florida’s Future”. To date, at least 57 of those 100 ideas have become legislation. They were people based solutions, not political based schemes and Marco Rubio was responsible for bringing them to fruition.

Rubio is a true, fair and open minded conservative, who reflects the type of approach to government that Floridians support. With the exception of Charlie Crist, who is now about to admit that he is a Republican who believes in the conservative foundation of our Party but only if he is the man who represents those principles.

Many Republicans believe in the phrase “In God We Trust” but for the Governor, it is only in Crist that he trusts. Unfortunately most Florida Republicans don’t agree with him on that. When it comes to who they feel is more in touch with the leadership we need, they trust Rubio over Crist.

As such, if Charlie Crist is really opposed to the Obama agenda and if he really supported conservative Republican policies than he would not take the risk of derailing the chances for a solid Republican to fight the Obama Administration on such things as spending and national defense or Cap-and-Trade and the battle to repeal the government healthcare takeover scheme.

If Charlie Crist believed in the policies of the Republican Party he is a member of, he would accept the decision and do like he originally said, “support Florida’s Republican nominee for Senate” He would not be making it more possible to send the opposition to Washington, and that is exactly what his third Party candidacy could help to do.

There must come a time when every man must believe in something greater than self. Now is the time for Governor Crist to do that. He needs to put aside his personal sense of competition, victory and glory and commit himself to being a dedicated soldier in the fight even if he is not made  a General in the war.

Otherwise he is nothing more than opportunistic, egomaniac, more concerned with having the stage than what he does on that stage.