I’d vote for waffling Crist over DeSantis any day, but let’s give others a chance
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is a disaster. He lies; he cheats; he takes away First Amendment rights of Florida residents; he’s a bully; he botches the Covid-19 response in Florida then lies and/or hides results that made him look bad. In other words, he wants to be the new Donald Trump, just younger, smarter, and with no Elvis Presley-styled, orange-colored hair.
He’s so dangerous I would probably vote for my broken down vacuum cleaner before casting my lot with this DiSaster Floridians have as governor.
All that to let you know that Congressman Charlie Crist, the U.S. Representative from Florida’s 13th congressional district since 2017, announced last week that he will challenge DeSantis in the terribly important 2022 Florida governor’s race. Out of desperation I have seen a number of people on the Democratic side already announcing their support for Crist, who also held the job of governor in Florida from 2007 to 2011.
I say, it’s still early: the election is not until November of next year.
Sure, if the race comes down to one between Crist and DeSantis, I will cast my vote for Crist. But let’s give others a chance. Let’s see who else throws their hat in this ring. Crist is old news. A nice guy, sure, but…
When he served as governor he was a Republican. Then in 2010 decided to run for an open seat for the U.S. Senate. His Republican opponent in that primary was Marco Rubio. Rubio got the backing of the Party and Crist decided to leave the GOP and run as an Independent. He lost that race. In 2012, he endorsed Obama for reelection and changed parties again, this time becoming a Democrat. A year later he announced his intention to run for governor in 2014, a race he lost to Rick Scott.
Crist, obviously, does not do well running state races against Republicans. He lacks the tenacity, the umff, to beat a DeSantis, who may be a disaster, but is not beyond using (and knowing how to employ) every dirty trick in the book to beat his opponent.
Also, past actions tell me that Crist tends to waffle on issues. As governor I remember him taking an unconstitutional position just to please Cuban American voters in the state. Crist had served as Florida’s attorney general, so he knew better. And did, but still opted for voters he was hoping to get at the expense of the Constitution, and taxpayer dollars.
Let me explain. It was 2008, Crist was the Republican governor of Florida and David Rivera, yes the same bandit who served in the U.S. Congress and in 2008 was a member of the Florida legislature, had introduced a bill in Florida that would usurp federal law and require charter companies and agencies traveling to Cuba to pay a $2,500 registration fee to the state. They would also have to post a bond ranging from $100,000 to $250,000 in order to do business in the state.
Everyone knew the law was unconstitutional: It hijacked U.S. policy towards Cuba. Crist and Rivera both knew this. And yet, the bill managed to clear every committee in the Florida legislature and was headed for the governor’s signature.
A group of about 10 of us from the Cuban American community here in Florida flew to Tallahassee to meet with Governor Crist and try to dissuade him from signing such a law. We met with one of his assistants — Crist did not have the time for us — who seemed to agree that the law was unconstitutional and would end up being thrown out by the courts. Also, we let the governor’s assistant know that business people from Florida doing legitimate business with Cuba had filed a lawsuit against the law, and the governor if he were to sign it.
To make a long story short, Crist signed the law, the agencies won in court, and we (the people of Florida) ended up paying about $1 million in attorneys’ fees and court costs.
Rivera laughed it off; Crist shrugged it off; it wasn’t their money, or time, that had been wasted. And Crist never received the Cuban American vote he longed for.
So let me repeat, I will vote for a trash bag with lipstick on it before I vote for DeSantis. So if it’s Crist, then I will have to vote for Crist…
But it’s still early, and in my opinion, Charlie Crist is not the solution Florida needs. Let us wait to see who else decides to run for governor of Florida. Hopefully they will be new political faces that might inject dynamic new blood into a tired state.
