The knock on Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL), who today announced that he's running for Senate in 2010, is that he's governing like a Democrat and is therefore unpopular with Republican primary voters. CW is just wrong in this case; the best Florida polling shows that Republicans approve of Crist's job performance, they like him, and they'd support him for Senate. Crist does have a problem with the conservative establishment in Florida, which shows that you can't conflate the establishment with the base, a crime of which journalists are frequently guilty. So far, Crist is showing no signs that he will pander to the right in his Senate run, hoping that outside pressure on Speaker Marco Rubio will prevent Rubio from becoming a serious challenger to Crist. That said, there are plenty of Florida Republican powerbrokers who dislike Crist, including the former governor, Jeb Bush. If Bush campaigns for Rubio, that'll raise eyebrows. He's more likely to do so privately, though, not wanting to alienate or forstall the inevitable.
« Liz Cheney Defends Her Father | Main | Ads Push Centrist Sens On Health Care »
May 12 2009, 10:51 am by Marc Ambinder
Crist Is Popular Among Florida Republicans, Too
Comments (1)
| RSS ![]()
Today's Headlines From The Atlantic
technology Pac Rat
The fight to save video games from bit rot
china Cyber Warriors
The battle to protect our infrastructure from hackers
column Prison Porn
"Lockup" is exploitative and debasing
VOICES
The Daily Wrap 2.9.10 11:52 P.M.
Shoe, Meet the Other Foot, Part II 2.9.10 5:19 P.M.
Question Of The Day: Would Obama Win In 2010? 2.10.10 6:30 A.M.
Live From Death Row 2.9.10 4:00 P.M.
On the cyber-threat from China 2.10.10 2:40 A.M.
The Middle East Comes to Irvine 2.9.10 4:38 P.M.
Liberal condescension 2.9.10 1:48 P.M.
Recent posts by Marc Ambinder
- Rumor Patrol: Biden and Crist Did Not Meet In Florida
- Even Schumer Is Suffering
- Pentagon To Announce End To Third Party Outings
- The Sevugan v. Conant Budget Super-clash
- Obama's Secret Wiretap Memo
Recent posts by Chris Good
Weekly
Author
- Andy Johnson
- Jodie Allen and Richard Auxier
- Adam Minter
- Andrew Sullivan
- Bob Cohn
- Brian Goldsmith
- Scott Bland and Ronald Brownstein
- Benjamin Lockwood
- Conor Clarke
- Clive Crook
- Chris Geidner
- Chris Good
- Cameron Joseph
- Clement Tan
- Chris VanBuren
- D.B. Grady
- Daniella De Franco
- Daniel Indiviglio
- Derek Thompson
- Gautham Nagesh
- Gautham Nagesh
- James Fallows
- James Bennet
- James Gibney
- Joshua Green
- Jeannette Lee
- Jenny Merkin
- Justin Miller
- James Warren
- Jim Kessler and Anne Kim
- Kerry Golds
- Katharine Rust
- Lisa Camner
- Marc Ambinder
- Matthew Cooper
- Megan Hupp
- Max Fisher
- Mara Gay
- Mackie Jimbo
- Michael Kinsley
- Megan McArdle
- Nicole Allan
- Rachael Brown
- Ross Douthat
- Regina Herzlinger
- Ronald Brownstein
- Reihan Salam
- Shane Harris
- Shauna Miller
- Staff
- Tony Lee
- Will DiNovi
Monthly
Category
- CBS News Politics
- Trippi
- FiveThirtyEight.com
- The Daily Beast
- Drudge Report
- Instapundit
- NJ's Political Stock Exchange
- Law: Executive Watch
- Steve Coll
- Politics: A-NES
- MSNBC's First Read
- Laura Rozen
- ProPublica
- The Fix
- Politico's Smith
- Shadow Government
- Dave Catanese's blog/KY3-TV
- Global Affairs
- Greg Sargent's TPMEC
- The Frontal Cortex
- 3 Quarks Daily
- Neurophilosophy
- Environment: Grist
- Overcoming Bias
- Pollster.com
- Radio Iowa (O. Kay!)
- A Daily Shot (and Chaser)
- The Cable
- Arms Control Wonk
- Nukes Of Hazard
- Mark Halperin's "The Page"
- Huffington Post Politics
- Fred Malek
- Nukes and Spooks
- Bob Bauer
- Hotline On Call
- The Stump
- NHNewslinks.com
- Prof. Dante Scala
- Robert Bluey
- NH2008.com
- Matt Lewis
- Patrick Ruffini
- CT Blog
- CQ's Jeff Stein
- Not Just Markos
- FAS Secrecy Blog
- The Buzz
- Wilshire And Washington
- Political Muscle
- Political Wire
- Arts and Letters Daily
- The Garance
- Wired's Danger Room
- Jake Tapper
- Pop Sugar
- Political Punch
- Greg Mankiw
- Captain's Quarters
- Marginal Revolution
- Mind Hacks
- Opinion Journal
- ARDA
- Virginia Postrel
- The Reality-Based Community
- Science Daily
- News @ Nature
- Retrospectacle
- Pharyngula
- The Airline Blog
- Cognitive Daily
- ThinkProgress
- Wonkette
- The Corner
- Clive Davis
- Kevin Drum
- Glenn Greenwald
- Intel Dump
- The Plank
- The Volokh Conspiracy
- Debka File
- Angry Asian Man
- AmericaBlog
- The Washington Note
- Obsidian Wings
- NYT's The Caucus
- Michael Barone
- SCOTUS Blog
- How Appealing
- Above The Law
- ACS Blog
- The Washington Independent
- Law Dork
- Ezra Klein
Home | Atlantic FAQ | Masthead | Site Guide | Subscribe | Subscriber Help
Atlantic Store | Educational Program | Jobs/Internships | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | Feedback | Advertise
Copyright © 2010 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.






We are currently weathering one of the greatest crises in Florida's history and Crist has been almost completely MIA. Of course, the last time he got involved was to push a tax cut that made the current budget shortfall even worse. So maybe its not so bad he isn't on the board.
He does seem inexplicably popular among the voters despite his 'hands way off' management style.