NY Times: May 13, 2009 News Analysis Restless in Tallahassee, or With Eye on 2012, Governor Rolls Dice

May 13, 2009
News Analysis
Restless in Tallahassee, or With Eye on 2012, Governor Rolls Dice
By DAMIEN CAVE and GARY FINEOUT

MIAMI — Gov. Charlie Crist officially announced Tuesday that he would run for the United States Senate, trading a likely second term in Tallahassee for the chance to serve in Washington — as a junior senator, in a minority party that has often wanted little or nothing to do with moderates like him.

So why would he do it?

Mr. Crist has always been a restless politician, moving from one job to the next, and many here suspect that he harbors presidential ambitions while fearing that term limits would push him into obscurity if he won a second and final four years as governor.

It is clearly a gamble. In Florida, Mr. Crist is betting that he can sustain his popularity even as he starts a campaign during the state’s worst recession in decades. And in Washington, he is betting that Republican conservatives will not banish him to a cloakroom for his support of President Obama’s stimulus measure.

Mr. Crist, 52, seems fully aware of the risks. On Tuesday, his announcement arrived by e-mail before 9:30 a.m. with little fanfare, stressing that “as governor, each day I will continue to focus on fighting for all Floridians” and that he would like to “take that fight” to Congress.

To emphasize his on-the-job campaign, Mr. Crist answered questions about his decision at a news conference in Tallahassee that was called to announce emergency management appointments. After saying repeatedly that he could “serve the people best” in the Senate, he brushed aside criticism that he was not conservative enough for Washington.

“We do things a little bit differently here in Florida,” Mr. Crist said. “I think, regardless of party, we have to work together to get things done.”

Jim Greer, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, said Mr. Crist had come to the conclusion that in the current age of activist government, Washington offered more opportunities for having a direct impact on Floridians’ daily lives.

“Usually when Washington makes a decision, you don’t see the result of those decisions for a long time,” he said. “That’s not the case today. The decisions they make today, we may see by this afternoon.”

Susan A. MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida, said Mr. Crist might be angling for the White House after being passed over for the vice-presidential nomination last year by Senator John McCain.

“In the past, people always talked about how the best path to the presidency is thought to be the governor’s office,” Ms. MacManus said. “But with all the globalization and international issues, the Obama victory may be the start of a time when the path is more through Congress.”

Mr. Crist has a well-earned reputation for restlessness. Always energetic and often very tan, he has served in five positions since entering politics in 1992 as a state senator from St. Petersburg. He will be the state’s first sitting governor in decades not to run for re-election, and since 2000 he has been elected to three jobs, bouncing from commissioner of education to attorney general to governor.

His job-hopping has already become the Democrats’ main line of attack. In an e-mail message sent to supporters on Tuesday, the party declared, “After just 30 months as governor, Charlie Crist is leaving his job, avoiding responsibility and leaving the hard work of facing Florida’s problems to the next governor.”

State Senator Dan Gelber, a Democrat from Miami Beach who is also running for the Senate seat held by Mel Martinez, a Republican who decided not to seek re-election, said Mr. Crist was “going to have to explain why he’s making the jump” when the state’s unemployment rate hovers around 10 percent and foreclosures continue to flood the market.

“The truth is,” Mr. Gelber said, “it’s going to be hard to make the case that what Florida needs is a junior senator in a decidedly minority party.”

Some Republicans are also unhappy. Even before Mr. Crist announced his candidacy, several groups, including the Florida Conservative Reform Caucus, posted an online petition for people who want the governor to “stay on the job.”

Another wild card is how he will fare with the national party. On Tuesday, Mr. Crist received a warm official welcome: Senator John Cornyn of Texas, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, endorsed him before noon.

But Mr. Crist’s appearance in February beside Mr. Obama at a rally for the economic stimulus effort continues to rankle the party’s Washington establishment and could hurt his ability to stand out in Congress.

By Tuesday evening, conservatives were demanding that Mr. Cornyn resign for backing Mr. Crist and not State Representative Marco Rubio, 37, a conservative Hispanic and former speaker of the Florida House who has promised to make the Senate race a competition for the soul of the Republican Party.

One blogger even called for a “fire Cornyn” rally outside the senator’s office — a proposal Mr. Rubio might support.

On Fox News on Tuesday, in a preview of what is likely to come, Mr. Rubio lashed out at Mr. Crist and other moderates for retreating from true Republican values.

“One wing of the party — I don’t believe it is the majority wing of the party — believes that if you can’t beat them, join them,” Mr. Rubio said.

Damien Cave reported from Miami, and Gary Fineout from Tallahassee, Fla.