May 12 2009
Crist For Senate – Test Of The New GOP
We finally have a test case for the resurrection of a center right GOP in the Florida senate race for 2010:
The expected announcement Tuesday by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist that he’s running for the Senate would seem to be a rare bit of good news for beleaguered Republicans.Â
But while Crist is a brand-name recruit with sky-high approval ratings and bipartisan appeal, his path to keeping the seat of retiring Sen. Mel Martinez in GOP hands has at least one significant roadblock: Sunshine State conservatives.Â
Despite Crist’s widespread popularity, he faces a primary in which he will have to make his case to a restless GOP base dissatisfied with his high-profile advocacy for President Barack Obama’s stimulus and his handling of the state’s budget woes.Â
If the GOP loses Florida’s senate seat, they are in a world of hurt. That would mean dueling Democrat Senators in CA, TX, and FL – the big electoral college states. Not to mention Dems in VA, etc. Â
Conservatives can have ‘problems’ all day long if they wish – it simply means no seat at the table, not voice in directing this country. Either they get used to the idea of being part of a governing coalition or they sit on the side lines wailing.
But the conservatives better not assume they are required to win elections. There are plenty of center left Democrats and voters who are shell shocked by the far left turn the liberals in DC have taken this country. For example:
Forty-five House Democrats in the party’s moderate-to-conservative wing have protested the secretive process by which party leaders in their chamber are developing legislation to remake the health care system.
The lawmakers, members of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, said they were “increasingly troubled†by their exclusion from the bill-writing process.
They expressed their concerns in a letter delivered Monday to three House committee chairmen writing the bill, which House leaders hope to pass this summer.
A centrist party which espouses limited government, but a strong safety net, which promotes national security (e.g., Leiberman, McCain), that understands the economic stimulus of tax cuts, could be a force to reckon with. As noted previously, many of the Senate hopefuls in NJ and NY and elsewhere are cut from the centrist clothe. Many are too centrist for me on key issues (e.g., embryonic stem cell research), but they are persuadable and probably more reliable allies than the all-or-nothing far right.
The hellish part of that Florida GOP primary is that Rubio is not a bad candidate, either. He would be far better served if he ran to replace Crist.
“but a strong safety net, which promotes national security (e.g., Leiberman, McCain), that understands the economic stimulus of tax cuts”
And shows common sense regarding environmental issues. I would be considered far right my most on this site, but I have no problem supporting centrist candidates. What drives me nuts is when they try to enact stupid environment regulation that reverse any economic benefits their free market policies would bring about. For example McCain and he global warming quackery. Almost any free market tax reducing policies McCain would have enacted would have been effectually neutered by the cap and trade policies he wanted instituted.
Looks like there is hope for Crist in this area. At least as far as off shore drilling is concerned.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91680890
Looks not so good on cap and trade:
http://www.pewclimate.org/node/6020
Anybody have any other info in this?
Mike Rogers of Foley outing fame released a film ‘Outrage’ a couple of days ago ‘outing’ Crist again.
Crist would be Specter 2.0 or something close. RedState has a fairly good look at the issues with Crist up today.
He only got the Gov job in an election of voting for the lesser of evils after Jeb term limited out.
The clown stands for nothing ,except like Specter, as a what’s in it for me.
via RollCall
After throwing his hat into the Sunshine State’s Senate race Tuesday morning, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist earned a swift endorsement from National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas).
Just like in the Foley matter , all the lefty blogs this morning are jumping in with both feet to smear Crist with the claims of Outrage, which are all anonymous claims.
So once again the Dems dump on what is one of their own groups in their ‘big tent’ and the gays will stay predictably quiet as their lifestyle is trashed for political points.
AJ: your description of a party of limited government, tax cuts to stimulate the economy, strong safety net, and strong national defense sounds like the conservative policies of Reagan. How that is a centrist, mainstream party is beyond me.
Conservatives need a short list of convictions to stick with and vote on to gain credibility, and then they need coalition builders. The problem with the far right is they are very much against building a coalition. The far right has built a core that is much too big and much too unruly. Then if you so much as violate a little bit of one of the hundred tenants of the new conservatism you are banished as impure.
One of Reagan’s great strength was coalition building. It is often overlooked in any reflection on his political career. In order to build a coalition you need a very short list of convictions. The four you propose above are a good starting point (five should be the limit), with the judiciary included in limited government.
MarkN,
These are the same as centrists views. They are not simply conservative, and the conservatives keep poisoning the message with their tone and purity wars. I agree with you 100%, Reagan built coalitions around common ground.
As I said, there are plenty of filthy RINOs and Squishes to create a new conservative movement which is not around the bend and insulting.
Reagan would be considered a RINO, as was George W and George Senior. That much is clear. Conservatives are not like Reagan, they have polluted his views and positions. They no more can claim to be Reagan conservatives than they can claim to speak for all conservatives and libertarians.
This is the wake up call I have been predicting would come. Centrists can win elections, can gain seats at the table. Centrists actually pick which side wins elections.
Once the ‘true conservatives’ started raging at the centrists, they should have known it would come to this. About time IMHO.
Alert1201,
I agree – the global warming thing is another topic where centrists can lean too far left.
But I go back to my opinion that centrists can be reasoned with (as long as you don’t scream names at them!)
AJ: I disagree. I think they are conservative ideas on which centrists can find common ground.
The only problem I have with so-called centrists is that some are left-center centrists who do not subscribe to the notion of limited government. i.e. global warming and the cap & trade tax. Also they do not subscribe to the benefits of tax cuts and lower and simpler taxation. In the end the center-left group always betrays the center-right group for the big government leftists. When coalition building one must stick to your convictions without sounding high and mighty, self-righteous. Always playing to your small list of core convictions and not poisoning the coalition with purity wars on secondary issues.
The problem with any coalition is that the fringe junior parties start running the show. This may happen in Israel, we shall see.
Limited government is key to any idea of a center-right coalition. I like to call it the CP-AJ party.
MarkN,
Actually you have it backwards. Bush was able to move tax cuts through even with slim party margins with large votes. Anytime cons try and ‘own’ good ideas they are heading down the wrong path.
And like I said, talking to them can change opinions. Slinging insults does nothing.
I live in Florida, voted for Gov. Crist and could care less if he is gay or not. He recently got married I don’t know if they did so for political convenience nor do I care.
I do care that Gov. Crist was in favor of the crapulus bill even though he had no prior knowledge of what was in this bill ( either did anyone in Washington) including Sens. Specter or the ladies of Maine.
I am not sure if he would be as popular if he did not ride Jeb Bush’s coat tails but as it stands right now I can not see him losing even though I would perfer someone who would be more fiscally conservative and has a shot to win.
AJ: Actually you have it backwards. Reagan called it mainstream consevative. Close to compasionate conservative. But the conservatives have always had the ideas and intellectual heft not the centrists. Trying to “own” something in politics is not a good thing because you start feeling self-righteous but if you put forth certain positions and policies you will own it by default. Not that during the policy formulation process you make compromises and deals to get your ideas made into law.
Slinging insults will get you nothing is right on. Reagan never said a bad word on liberal Republicans (those left of the center), because building a coalition will at least win elections and get you some legislative victories.
The center-right coaliton is shot because it allowed the junior parties to control the message and personification. Junior partners must be kept in line by the senior partners or they need to be dropped from the coalition. The reason PM Ben in Israel got some labor votes in his coalition is because he may have to drop some fringe elements if they don’t behave.
I think Bush and Rove failed in controlling the far right was the bigger mistake of the last five years than anything,
Weird. I am seeing more of a reaction from the left blog sphere … although they are right that Obamanomics is a mistake (well they only say supporting it is a mistake, but it is a step in the right direction) and many hope it will fail. Obama owns the Billion dollar stimulus he came up with the number. I would be against any GOP candidate who wants to claim it as his own; It was a federal payout a state rep did not even have a vote.
We do need to simulate the economy, current projects show job losses going into 2010. We need to get people back to work! And take the tax monkey off their back to do it! If he has a plan I for one will listen but cutting taxes and spending money is only slightly better than just spending money.
Sky-high approval ratings and significant roadblock don’t seem to belong in the same sentence; Just saying: should be one or the other.
You can’t have limited government and a big safety net government at the same time. I see why you think of yourself as a centralist. I’ll take this from that side and that from this side and I’ll make a jumble sandwich right down the middle.
Thanks for the definitional example of a centralist, it made me smile.
Gary, I consider unemployment insurance a big safety net, however it is something you pay into then get money out of if (when) needed. So the terms still need to be defined; We can have nets which are not paid for by somebody else.
Paying for safety nets with general tax dollars is not limited government; that is also not insurance. The devil is in the details. Fusionism is a narrow road, but it does exist.
Reagan was not into purges.
And here in Indiana Bayh voted against Obama’s budget and he is a Democrat, a centrist. But he was also Governor for two terms and knows that you can not run in the red forever.
So I would say that most centrists do believe in moderation in spending. Extremes bother them and that includes extreme deficits.
As for Crist, a lot of conservatives are angry that he will run. They want Rubio.
I think it is up to the Republicans in Florida. Specter was not driven from the party in a purge, he was going to lose a primary election at the hands of other Republicans. But Crist has an approval rating of 71% among Republicans so I think his chances in the primary are pretty good.
Maybe Rubio could run for Governor.
Gary,
you make me smile. Simple minded solutions to complex problems are what make true conservatives such laughers!
Because you can’t understand how to get from A to B you assume there is no solution. Interesting. Can you repair complex systems? How is your neural surgeon skills? Know how to determine satellite orbits?
See, you don’t know how to solve those either. The difference seems to be conservatives can’t solve problems without brutal and clumsy sledge hammers, when all you need is some ingenuity, inspiration and conviction.
Case in point: Medicare prescription drug benefits enacted by moderates. It is a complete free market process (corporate competition sets prices, not the government). People who have the monetary means must pay into it like any health insurance. The only people we get the ‘free ride’ are people who are in severe poverty.
It is a elegant solution that involves almost zero government intervention, while providing a safety net and reducing welfare costs (people used to get drugs via expensive emergency room visits).
See, you just don’t have what it takes to make it work, so you insult and laugh at others who – honestly – could care less how little you can solve.
Thanks for being such a shining example of the irrelevance of the far right.
Hutchison is right, I think. With the NRCC backing Crist, he’s better off running for Governor. He can take out Nelson later.
Wayne,
It is not surprising the left is reacting. If the GOP moved center the liberals would lose power incredibly fast. The far left needs to fight the far right. If they fight the centrist they would lose just like the conservatives did when they went on their purity purge.
I think I am the far right, but charity requires a cheerful giver and socialism is the common enemy.
There are many people in the US and they all need to be represented. Gun rights need to be protected, Life needs to be protected. Parental rights need to be protected, People’s right to free speech needs to be protected. The last government report I read makes me a constitution thumping “extremist” – and vets are not terrorists.