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Florida Governor Who Executed Grossman Says He’s ‘Lonely’ On Campaign Trail


[FLASHBACK: Florida Governor Christ received 50,000 emails and phone calls in the weeks before the execution of Martin Grossman, and decided to respond to their requests less than 30 minutes before the execution – in an automated response.]

The following article is from The Hill:

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says it is “very lonely” running as an Independent.

Since he quit his party, Crist says he has discovered that people he thought were friends turned out to be only Republican friends who dropped Crist after he left the GOP.

Crist has lost so many campaign staffers that his sister is now running his third-party effort.

“When you’re not affiliated with a party, it can be very lonely, particularly initially,” Crist told The Hill in an hourlong phone interview.

Still, he insists he has no regrets about his decision, and offered criticism for the GOP activists who took a stand against him after he supported President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package.

“It just became increasingly apparent to me that a segment of the party was drifting so far to the right that it just wasn’t a place where I felt comfortable anymore,” Crist said.

“That level of acrimony and bitterness is what frustrates people today. There is this focus on being loyal to a party over the people, and it’s just wrong,” Crist said.

Crist won’t say which party he will caucus with in the Senate, if he is elected. When asked if he still considers himself a Republican, however, his answer is clearer: “I’m an Independent. I’ve changed my registration.”

The governor won’t provide details on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) courtesy phone call last month, but said Reid was “gracious” and expressed a desire to open a line of communication.

Asked if he has been called by top Republicans like Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) or National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas), Crist laughed, “No — not surprisingly.”

Bitterness toward Crist remains palpable among his state’s Republican leaders.

Florida Republican Party Chairman John Thrasher put an oil painting of Crist up for sale on eBay with a written description that was so critical that the online auction company edited it.

“A lot of people feel betrayed,” said Thrasher, who hasn’t talked to Crist in months.

“He ran for state senator as a Republican. He ran for attorney general as a Republican. He ran for governor as a Republican. A lot of people invested time and sweat and energy in him, not to mention money. I think there is a lot of not bitterness, but certainly feelings of betrayal. I mean, he turned his back on people when things got tough for him.”

National Republicans criticize Crist for not returning donations from those who thought he was a Republican. National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Brian Walsh said it shows Crist’s “lack of principle” and notes that Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) returned hundreds of thousands of dollars when he switched parties last year.

Crist says only “10 at most” have asked for a refund, and his answer has been a polite no.

“I told them they gave it to a good cause, and I’m going to spend it on a good cause,” Crist said. “Nothing has changed in that regard.”

Given the acrimony, Crist’s run as an Independent against Republican Marco Rubio and Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek (Fla.) will be anything but easy.

Peter Brown, assistant director of the Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, notes that Crist can’t rely on any existing party infrastructure in a state with vast and varying media markets.

“He starts with a name recognition edge and a pretty good job approval rating,” Brown said. “On the other hand, this is uncharted waters. Many people have raised the Joe Lieberman analogy, but in Connecticut the Republicans laid down for him and nominated a weak candidate, so [Lieberman] got a huge chunk of Republican votes. I don’t see the Republicans laying down for Charlie Crist.”

Crist starts the race leading in the polls and in campaign funds. A recent St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald/Bay News poll put Crist at 30 percent, compared to 27 percent for Rubio and 15 percent for Meek. The most recent Federal Election Commission records show he had $7.6 million at the end of March, compared to $3.9 million for Rubio and $3.7 million for Meek.

The governor also won his last three statewide races, having been elected education commissioner in 2000, attorney general in 2002 and governor in 2006. He said he relishes the chance to test voters’ open-mindedness and notes that the strength of the Tea Party movement behind Rubio has yet to be tested in a general election.

“It’s a state where if you don’t have Democratic, Republican and independent support, it’s hard to win,” he said. “I realized that as commissioner of education, attorney general and governor, that as a Republican, if I didn’t get that crossover vote, you simply wouldn’t have been victorious in any of those races.”

The governor has staked out a different position from his former party on offshore drilling since the spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

He emphasizes his opposition to expanded drilling in the Gulf and notes that tourism, Florida’s largest industry, relies overwhelmingly on the state’s beaches.

On Friday, Crist toured the oil spill with Obama, reminding some observers of the intense criticism Crist took for supporting the president. The governor’s decision to support the stimulus plan was called “unforgivable” by former Gov. Jeb Bush (R).

But Crist is unapologetic about his embrace of Obama, who carried Florida with 51 percent of the vote in 2008.

He said accepting stimulus money was “exactly the right thing to do” and that he has no regrets.

“None whatsoever,” he said. “I was brought up to be respectful to others, particularly the president of the United States of America, and the idea that it’s wrong to support him and the stimulus that saved hundreds of thousands of jobs in Florida — it’s just odd to me. It’s obviously partisan and wrong.”

(Source: The Hill / YWN-4705)



8 Responses

  1. Saying that he executed Grossman is a gross misrepresentation.

    A little childish.

    Like most rational people, I supported life in prison given the circumstances, so don’t get me wrong.

    But the ‘governor who executed Grossman’?
    What is this, a tabloid?

  2. He deserves to be lonely just for the reason of “Still, he insists he has no regrets about his decision, and offered criticism for the GOP activists who took a stand against him after he supported President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package”!!!

  3. Grossman’s crime has to be kept in mind. It was not victimless. He killed someone in pretty cold blood. While I weep for his Yiddishe neshama, Crist was not the judge and jury; merely the last resort. Was there overwhelming evidence of a failure of the justice system? I think not. While I wrote, faxed, emailed, and called Crist on behalf of Grossman, I do understand his thinking.

  4. He felt the need to go through with the execution so he doesn’t lose any votes! Well he got that wrong didn’t he????

  5. Does anyone here believe that the Eibishter is running the world?? He deserves to feel alone as he should. There was no need to kill Mr Grossman especially since he had the option to keep him in prison fo rlife. Mr Grossman did something extremely terrible but teshuva was done and who are we humans to kill another human being. As far as him being on the side of the President, he will fall because of it. He shoul dhave asked Das Torah before doing the act of taking ones life. I understand he just followed the law set by the State of Florida but as Governor he had the right to stay the Execution. Mr Grossman was on drugs and alot younger and much stupider of course but the end result could have been shown more passionate as a human must. Ultimately .. th egovernor was the hand of Hashem and I understand that and the action alone brought more yidden together than ever before just by the fact that he recieved so many emails, letters, phone calls, etc .Can you imagine how many letters , emails, phone calls were sent to President George W Bush for Mr Jonathan Pollard who does not deserve at all to be where he still is and I am sure that Mr Bush will also feel alone because of his non-action to free him when he had the chance.
    Mr Governor , enjoy your loneliness which is ordained by the One Above.

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