Jim Stillman
NevarCharlie, where have you been?
June 25th 2010 03:16
Charlie Crist: a reason to have optimism.
I am 75 years old and have voted in every election since 1956 when I cast my first presidential vote for Democrat Adlai Stevenson over the then incumbent, Dwight Eisenhower. This was a rematch of the 1952 contest, the Korean War had ended, the nation was prosperous, and the Republican war hero won in a landslide. My rationale for voting for the Democratic candidate was two-fold. First, my father tended to vote Republican, with the exception of Franklin Roosevelt, and I felt the need to demonstrate independence, and second, the Republican vice-president was Richard Nixon whose past political activities had left a bitter taste in my mouth.
From then on, with the futile exception of John Anderson in 1980 when I was faced with a choice of Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, neither of whom I thought up to the presidency, I voted for the most progressive candidate.
After moving to Florida in late 1969, I continued to assert that I was an Independent but, in reality, usually voted for the Democratic ticket. I have, however, felt that a strong, energetic two-party system was vital to the country. Either party needs an opposition that engages in debate and challenges the current office holders. Instead, the GOP has allowed itself to be captured by the far, far Right, many in the Tea Party Movement and most far outside the mainstream center wherein most Americans feel comfortable.
Starting in the mid-sixties, Republicans began a purge of its moderate wing, the ideological home of Nelson Rockefeller. The purge has continued to this day when, to be a “suitable” Republican means one who, without qualification or nuance, is anti-abortion, anti-gun control and anti-affirmative action, wants a government that allows individual freedom and choice (except with regard to a woman’s womb), and opposes all government meddling in health care (except don’t touch our Social Security or Medicare).
Now, enter and consider Charlie Crist, Governor of Florida, elected as a Republican to that position and who would truly love to be the new United States Senator from this state. The position was vacated by Mel Martinez, a Republican who won a narrow victory in 2004. Senator Martinez resigned before the end of his term and Governor Crist named his aide George LeMieux to keep the seat warm.
Governor Crist began upsetting the state GOP folks by taking steps that were rational and sensible but were inconsistent with the slogans and dogma of his party.
Start with the basics. Florida has a serious budget problem. The state’s tax revenue comes almost exclusively from a sales tax. Local government has revenue income from a share of the sales tax collected but, primarily, from real estate taxes. Both of these taxes are regressive for the most part and are insufficient to meet the needs of the state. For many years, the Legislature was Republican controlled and its members considered any tax reform (or, Lord forgive, increase) to be anathema. So we have libraries closing, roads in disrepair, teachers laid off, parks closed and services curtailed. The national decline in employment and real estate values was felt in Florida.
Then the Federal government passed a stimulus package. Some of the provisions of this legislation resulted in a windfall of badly needed cash, from $7 Million to work on a restoration of Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas to $2.5 Billion in educational funding. More important, Florida schools will get $2.2 billion from a fiscal stabilization fund, which Congress set up to help state and local governments balance budgets and avoid layoffs.
What did Governor do when faced with the receipt of this money?
He graciously accepted it and, by showing cooperation with that socialistic, Kenyan-born, Hitler-like, mixed racial Barack Obama, began the journey from his Party.
Charlie Crist has taken positions in the past with which I find fault. Back when he was state Attorney General he took the position of locking up the bad guys and tossing away the key. He took pride in the nickname “Chain gang Charlie” although in all honesty, Florida didn’t use the “chain gang” of other southern states. He had taken pro-life and anti-abortion positions, opposed all gun regulations, and had varying positions on drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.
Over the past few years, the Republican Party began to be controlled by the Tea Party activists. While there are differences among members of this faction of the GOP, they have some core beliefs. [http://jimspoliticalcertainty.worldblogosphere.com/108/politics/tea-parties-%E2%80%93-the-gathering-of-protesters-searching-for-something-to-protest/]
Essentially, they are angry, frustrated and not terribly well-informed. Their primary beliefs [http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1954812/tea_parties_in_wonderland.html?cat=37] are negative; they are against Barack Obama, taxation, health care reform, overpowering government and any form of gun control. Supporters of the Tea Party movement have taken the position that, if the Congress passes legislation to which they object, revolution may be a proper response!
But what the Tea Party supporters do not have is a program of governing!
They have the luxury of being against most things; they have no positive programs to provided services to the people.
Charlie Crist denies that he abandoned the Republican Party; he asserts that the Party abandoned all rational approaches to governing. He has joined the growing – but minuscule – number of politicians who have declared themselves “independent”, willing to give up formal Party affiliation and support. In the past, office seekers who choose to run without major party affiliation have not done well; Charlie Crist may just be the exception. He has taken steps and positions that are anathema to the rigid far right that now controls (at least in its mind) the present Republican base.
For example, the Republican controlled Legislature pushed through a law that would demand that a woman choosing to have a legally authorized abortion, that is a procedure permitted under Federal and state law, be required, at her expense, to have an ultrasound and be required to view the fetus. The anti-pro-choice advocates realize that they cannot completely prohibit a first trimester abortion; so there are continuing efforts to place legal, practical and emotional barriers to the procedures. The proposed Florida law would require a woman to have a medical procedure that was not necessary or even related to any medical condition or disease. This proposal, one should recall, was adopted by a Republican Legislature whose philosophy is that the Government ought not to be involved in the personal lives of the average citizen.
When the bill reached the Governor’s desk, he refused to allow it to become law; the veto was a vindication that Charlie Crist was prepared to do the right thing regardless of the consequences. Among those consequences was the virtual certainty that Crist would be denied the Republican nomination for United States senator, a position for which he had been considered a shoo-in.
The Legislative Republicans had pushed through a controversial education bill that tied teacher's pay to their students' test scores. Governor Crist had supported passage of the law in its early stages but as the provisions became more known to the public, opposition grew among educational experts; the proposed law, among other unfair consequences, would, in effect, penalize teachers of special needs children. Ultimately, the Governor vetoed the bill earning him increased hatred from the GOP base.
The governor seems to be going out of his way to separate himself from the ideologues now in charge of the Florida (and national) Party. In reality, Charlie Crist has stopped pandering to the GOP base – which will never be satisfied with him no matter what.
Florida is the only state in which homosexual couples [http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/129149/florida_ban_on_homosexual_adoption.html?cat=25] are explicitly denied the right to adopt children; they are allowed to be foster parents, however. Several years ago, a Circuit Judge in Miami held that the ban was irrational, not supported by the state agency responsible for foster care and adoptions or any authority. This ruling was appealed to the District Court of Appeal and a decision is expected any day. Governor Crist could have simply kept quiet, allowing the matter to be resolved by the courts. He issued a statement that made the point that a court should make the determination of adoption on a case-by-case basis.
An editorial in the St. Petersburg Times remarked on another split with the GOP and the governor’s moving to the center:
Crist embraced President Barack Obama’s decision last year to relax travel barriers for Cuban-Americans who wish to visit their relatives on the island. Crist supports the Democratic administration’s decision to retain the trade embargo, but to allow Cuban-Americans to freely visit relatives on the island and to send money. Former President George W. Bush imposed tough restrictions limiting family visits to one every three years. He also limited how much money Cuban-Americans could send.
Bush’s restrictions were an affront to the right Americans have to travel freely and without government interference. They also kept families apart, adding to the misery that Cubans have suffered for generations. Bush also handed Cuba’s communist government a public relations opportunity to blame the United States for splitting up Cuban families and denying them access to much needed cash. If Crist’s position wins him votes or campaign contributions, it will be recognition that the old restrictions aimed at Cuba have failed and that it is time for a new direction.
Governor Crist is running for Florida’s United States Senator without party affiliation. It is a risk but one I hope will be successful. What his opponents refer to as a lack of constant principles and core beliefs, I consider a mark of a man willing to re-examine previously held beliefs in the light of new situations and new needs of the people. Charlie Crist is demonstrating a political maturity and he deserves credit.
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