Crist anointed

Let’s look away from Georgia politics for a

moment and take note of our neighbor to the south.  Recent polling

suggests that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is looking very strong as the

top Republican candidate to replace outgoing Sen. Mel Martinez, who

won’t be running again in 2010.  A new Mason-Dixon poll has Crist

running ahead of former state House speaker Marco Rubio by 53-19

percent among Republican voters.  In a head-to-head with U.S. Rep.

Kendrick Meek, the leading Democratic candidate, Crist has a 55-24

percent advantage.

Crist’s strong showing should be good news to some Georgia Republicans,

such as his supporter Sen. Johnny Isakson.  On the other hand, the

strength of the Crist candidacy is causing some local Republicans like

Erick Erickson, the

Macon city councilman who operates numerous conservative websites, to

go absolutely nuts.

Erickson is so riled up at even the thought of a Crist candidacy — not to mention the support of Crist

by the party establishment — that he’s set up a Facebook group called Not one penny to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).

Erickson declares on the group’s Facebook page:  “First they supported

Chafee.  Then they supported Specter.  Now they support Crist.  I

pledge to give no money, no support, no aid, and no help at all to the

efforts of the NRSC.”

There

are some interesting social cross-currents at work in this race.  One

of the things about Crist that appears to really unhinge those on the

right is that he openly supported Barack Obama’s federal stimulus

legislation and was quite happy to get the resultant funding.  That no

doubt angers the crowd who can’t stand the thought of an African

American as president.

Rumors have also been circulating for

years about Crist’s sexual preferences, dating back to the days when he

was patronizing nightspots like the Green Iguana

in Tampa (let the record show that Crist, a lifelong bachelor, did get

married last year).  The anti-gay feelings among some GOP members were

said to be a factor in Crist not being picked by John McCain to be his

vice presidential running mate. 

Crist’s main challenger in

the Senate primary is Rubio, an up-and-coming Latino in Florida’s

political circles.  Rubio has already snared the endorsement of former

governor Jeb Bush.  In a party that’s catching some heat for the

racially tinged insults it’s been hurling at Sonia Sotomayor, some GOP

voters might want to make amends by voting for Marco Rubio.

For all of these reasons, this will be a fascinating campaign to watch unfold over the next year.