Charlie Crist's Identity Theft Problem

by: dantilson

Tue Mar 09, 2010 at 23:49:22 PM EST

Charlie Crist’s “Man In The Mirror” confusion was in full view during the 2010 State of the State speech, when he launched his third 180-degree turn since becoming governor in 2006 - this time trying desperately to swing back towards what was a winning identity for him back then.

Bringing Sunshine to the Netroots Nation

by: quinnelk

Wed Aug 12, 2009 at 10:12:31 AM EDT

By: Kendrick Meek

As a candidate running to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate and as a four-term member of Congress with a 15-year public service record, I have taken great pride in representing my constituents to the best of my ability. In recent years, there has been an explosion of new technologies that help elected officials stay more in touch with their constituents. Later this week, in Pittsburgh, the top people behind the creation of that technology and the best practitioners of this new media will be gathered at Netroots Nation. I'll be there with them learning from the best.

Netroots Nation is one of the most important annual events in the progressive movement and it is both a place where I can reach out to some of the key opinion leaders in the online world and, hopefully, a place where I can learn how to more effectively use new media tools. I tweet, and maintain a fan page and personal page on Facebook, but new media is not only about the latest social networking sites online or applications on my iPhone. It’s about issues and public policy, and finding ways to help our economy move from recession to recovery and the men and women who attend Netroots Nation have critical ideas on how we move our country forward.

The Two Faces of Charlie

by: dantilson

Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 17:12:48 PM EDT

Watching the flurry of bill signings and vetoes coming out of Florida Governor Charlie Crist's office in recent weeks has been akin to watching a confounding, if not outright conniving Republican remake of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.  Call this version, Gov. Crist & Mr. Candidate.

While Gov. Crist still gives every indication of doing the business of governing, his alter ego is already campaigning to be Florida's next Republican U.S. Senator.  To that electoral end, Mr. C wants and needs Gov. C  to be viewed as a moderate Man Of The People, a Middle Class-friendly, bi-partisan vote getter.

And so, in the days since signing a much-maligned new state budget -- a budget that puts plenty of extra hurt on Florida's most vulnerable citizens without asking for any significant sacrifice from its more prosperous ones -- Gov. Crist has been playing a strategically savvy, oh-so-selective "I'll make it up to you" game with recession-battered working and struggling families.

Read the rest here.

Kendrick Meek ... weak in FL Senate race? Pam Iorio strong? And more ...

by: FriedGatorBlog

Thu Feb 12, 2009 at 19:13:57 PM EST

1) Kendrick Meek seems to be the weakest of the field in the General Election. Despite being one of the most well known and his ability to get heavyweights like President Clinton, Chris Korge, Steve Hildebrand, Ana Cruz, and I hear Obama consultant Blue State Digital -- Meek is the weakest of the Democrats against all of the Republican challengers. In every match up against Republicans, he is trailing by 3% to 14% behind the other Democrats but two (Dan Gelber and he trail Connie Mack by the same percentage, and Gelber loses to Rubio by a bit more).

This means Meek has a real ceiling with those that know him -- just look at the Bense/Meek match up where he trails Bense by 7% -- Gelber trials him by 3%, Klein beats him by 7%, and Iorio beats him by 8%. Meek has a hill to climb -- much more than I would have expected. And his 10% in the Democratic primary is not anything brag about either. He better hope the Big Dog is will to come back for him -- he's going to need it.

2) Pam Iorio is the strongest of all the Democrats and does pretty good in the primary. Pam Iorio beats every Republican but Charlie Crist in this poll. Her name recognition isn't higher than the other candidates, so this means she must pull voters from the I-4 cooridor away from the Republicans. And despite what the Buzz says -- she does pretty well in the primary considering she is within margin of error of Meek. This race is wide open, and it looks like Iorio should be seriously considering it.

3) Dan Gelber has room to grow, define himself, and win. While Dan Gelber's Democratic Primary percentage isn't great (4%) it is 3% higher than the last poll and once you see the general election he doesn't do too bad. Given his name recognition I would guess that he performs about at the level of "generic Democrat." While this doesn't show incredible support for his Senate run, it means that Gelber has the most opportunity to define himself and in a wide open race that will help a lot. He will have to tap into the internet and the grassroots to pull it off -- and he's off to a bit of a rocky start getting his message out (just find his Senate annoucement video on youtube). But with Meek getting ready to launch a new site, he's going to have to move fast to win the internet primary. 

4) Charlie Crist for Senate gets more support than Charlie Crist for Governor. There is no question Charlie is popular, but one interesting fact from this poll -- he does better running for Senate than Governor. When polled about re-election as Governor against a generic Democrat Charlie is about 8 points lower than when polled against Dan Gelber in this poll. I think this makes it clear there might be more to "Charlie for Senate" than Carole wanting to be a hop, skip, and a jump away from the shops in Georgetown. If Charlie has seen the same polls and is looking at the budget deficits ahead -- it might just be easier to run for Senate.   

5) Connie Mack IV is still the man to beat. Take Charlie out of the situation, and Connie Mack the IV is the man to beat. I don't expect this to last and I am sure most people think its Connie Mack the III, but its going to help him in the primary and he could end up staying the man to beat for a long time to come if Charlie opts out in May. Plus his Congresswoman wife from California used to be married to Sonny Bono -- so that should help with the older population. 

More Meek

by: Tally

Sun Jan 04, 2009 at 18:53:52 PM EST

Run, Kendrick, Run

by: Tally

Fri Jan 02, 2009 at 00:00:00 AM EST

I've been making the case for Meek running against Jeb ever since Prince Nasty (aka Mr. Lehman Bros., aka the "Smart" Bush) e-mailed those four words heard round the World of Political Junkies: "I am considering it" (i.e., running for Mel Martinez' US Senate seat from Florida).