Florida Governor Charlie Crist is still leading as an independent candidate for U.S. Senate, according to this poll. The poll was commissioned by several large broadcast and newspapers in Florida, and shows Crist (Independent) 30%, Rubio (Republican) 27%, Meek (Democratic) 15%, other 2%, undecided or won’t vote, 26%.
Christ needs to target the undecided/non voters, as Ventura did.
Another question is, if Crist wins, who will he caucus with?
A poll showing 26% undecided is not worth much.
Marco Rubio will win in November.
I hope Crist keeps leading and pulls it out in November. While I do not agree alot with him philosophically, the fact that he is running as an Independent makes me support him. And if I voted in Florida I would proudly vote for him.
More power to the Independents!
Although I’m usually for more choices, I think Meek should drop out and endorse Crist.
He also needs to leave the 30 Something Working Group. He’s not a 30 something.
#5: If Meek were to drop out, the Democrats would replace him with another candidate.
@2
My theory is that he will be an “Independent-Republican”.
If, as is likely, the Democrats still are the majority
party in the Senate after November, Crist might do well
to caucus with the majority Dems. RINOS are unwelcome in the GOP these days, but the Dems. may want him as an Indy.
Christ is NOT an Independent. He’s a RINO (donkey in a loose-fitting elephant suit) who just happens to be smart (sane) enough to do what Arlen Sphincter should have done.
Doremus Jessup, Crist may be a RINO and not a true Independent, but he IS running as an Independent and whether he wins or loses, his candidacy helps to weaken the so-called 2 party system. You obviously are one of those loyal Republicans who think the party is more important than the country.
In order to be effective and build seniority, a US senator or representative must be a member of either the Democratic or the Republican caucus. So in the unlikely event that Crist is elected, he would presumably caucus with the Republicans (of course, he could always have his own caucus, which would meet in a broom closet).
Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders, to be sure, both caucus with the Democrats.
#8: Are Sens. Snowe and Collins of Maine unwelcome in the Republican Party?
Steve,
I think it is a given that the Republican stable is
hostile turf for so-called RINOS. Every “real Republican” I know says that very thing. If few are now calling for kicking Snowe and Collins out of the conference, it may be only because numbers are crucial in adding up to a Republican majority. (And there is evidence that already the ideologically-pure are beginning to suspect Scott Brown). I agree with you that it is unlikely that Crist WILL caucus with the Democrats. He probably will (if elected) seek out the Republicans. They may even take him in.
Like Alabama Independent, I applaud Crist’s independent campaign, and I think the more independent he can be in the Senate, the better agent he could be in weakening the awful duopoly that smothers American politics. Whichever conference he chooses (or chooses him), it would be quite remarkable to have three Senators, all
elected as independents. I would hope that Senators Bernie, Joe, and Charlie would begin to feel the critical mass needed for them to begin functioning
as Indys rather than RINO(s) and/or DINO(s).
Olympia and Susan may then decide they want to join them. Indys after all have proven that in Maine they can sometimes hold their own.
#12: A US senator or representative who leaves his/her party caucus forfeits his/her seniority. S/he would lose most of his/her effectiveness as well as any chance of holding a committee chairmanship.
Virginia Sen. Harry Byrd Jr. was re-elected as an independent in 1970 and 1976, but he kept his seniority with the Democrats and continued to caucus with them.
Maine has indeed elected several independent governors, but that’s quite different from sending an independent to Congress.
You are right about that, Steve, and nothing I have said suggests that I think that any Senator would formally leave one of the two Senate party conferences. What I AM suggesting is the possibility of something like what happened in the early 1920s, when a small group of Congressmen of both major parties (and a handful of third-party people)came together informally around the leadership and ideas of Robert
La Follette. I am sure that they remained formally attached to the duopoly’s organizations, but they also began to operate together as a kind of congressional third force.
#14: Sen. Robert LaFollette, of course, ran as the Progressive Party nominee for president in 1924. In 1925, as I recall, he and several other senators were either booted out of the Republican caucus or stripped of their seniority for supporting LaFollette for president.