6/26/2010

Charlie Crist's political drift over his whole political career

Hotline has a long article here. This is just the beginning of the piece:

FL Gov. Charlie Crist (I) has become adept at altering his policy positions to fit the current political circumstance. The media breathlessly reports every time Crist flip-flops on an issue. But the exact number of switches is hard to pin down, mostly because it's so hard to keep up with them.
Hotline OnCall has tallied up every major Crist position switch since his first statewide race, a '98 SEN bid against ex-Sen./ex-Gov. Bob Graham (D). Crist has definitely switched his publicly-stated opinion on 7 major issues, and there are 2 more that may have shifted, depending on how you look at it. There are 4 more issues where Crist's opinions may be open to change, but the exact history of his stances can't be traced or haven't been recorded.
Crist's opinions have largely traced his electoral path. He was more of a libertarian centrist in '98, but a tough FL GOV primary against CFO Tom Gallagher (R) in '06 led him to take more socially conservative positions as the campaign progressed. When Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) considered him for his VP short list in '08, Crist's positions changed to toe the GOP platform, and then edged further to the right during the early days of the '10 FL SEN primary against ex-state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R). After he left the GOP in late Apr., observers have marveled at the speed of his shifts to the left.
Some of his switches are infamous and much derided by his opponents -- his recent veto of an ultrasound anti-abortion bill is just the latest iteration of a complicated abortion record that began in '98, when he was ostensibly pro-choice.
By the end of '06, he was advocating for FL to pass a bill similar to a SD ballot measure outlawing all abortions. Now he says that gov't shouldn't be involved in such "personal" decisions. Offshore drilling is another much-chronicled Crist epic -- he was against it, then he was for it when he was up for VP, now he's against it. Other clear-cut flip-flops include gay adoption (against, now for), Don't Ask, Don't Tell (for, now against), easing Cuban travel restrictions (against, now for), an independent FL redistricting commission (against, now for), and whether he would remain a member of, and a candidate within, his own party. That adds up to 7 total flips. . . .

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