Behind Crist's Exit from the GOP: The Hand of Jeb Bush?
Four years ago, then Florida governor Jeb Bush stepped onto the state house floor in Tallahassee and presented 34-year-old state representative Marco Rubio,
Edge card who was being sworn in as the chamber's new speaker, with a golden sword. It was the weapon of a "great conservative warrior" whom Bush called "the mystical Chang," and he urged his fellow conservative Republican to "unleash" it when necessary.
The unusual gift was tongue-in-cheek, but to the gathered Florida pols, it was nothing less than a Confucian designation of Rubio as Bush's conservative heir. So while Jeb Bush has made no formal endorsement in this year's primary contest for Florida's open U.S. Senate seat between Rubio and current governor Charlie Crist, it's fairly obvious to the state's voters whom the Channeler of Chang is backing.
And that's been only one of Crist's many problems. On Thursday, April 29, Crist announced that he's dropping out of the August Republican primary and instead running in the November general election as an independent — or more precisely, say people close to his campaign, as a "no party affiliation" candidate, which means he can retain his Republican Party registration. Now that he has made the much anticipated move, a lingering question will be the extent to which Bush himself, as many Florida political watchers have suggested recently, unleashed the conservative blade on his more moderate successor.
Even Crist supporters are reluctant to blame behind-the-scenes machinations by Jeb for the collapse of Crist's primary campaign — which in most polls has fallen more than 20 points behind Rubio after being ahead by that much this time last year. And there's no doubt that Crist's own mistakes, especially his misreading of Tea Party conservatism, played a large role. But as a top GOP operative close to Bush points out, "Crist forgot that Jeb still defines the Republican Party more than anyone else in Florida.
Edge card This was Jeb's way of reminding him of that."
