GOP’s Get Out Of Jail Free Card: Charlie Crist

by Dalitso Njolinjo

Let me say from the start that Charlie Crist will be a problem for the Democratic Party. Team Obama and Governor/ Chairman Kaine have taken great steps to paint the face Republican Party to resemble individuals such as Rush Limbaugh, George Bush and Dick Chaney but Charlie Crist does not fit snugly into that mode. Don’t get it confused, he is a pretty solid conservative, but he is also a conservative with an ear for common sense.

Let me put it a different way. When I was 15 years old, my mother finally gave me the permission to decorate and paint my room as I see fit. So, excited as I was I quickly bought a grass green colored paint and quickly coated my room with it. I was proud with the outcome, but the rest of my family hated it, they complained that the color looked dated and didn’t my room. Four weeks later, the paint faded and clear cracks started to appear and the paint started to change color. It finally dawned on me that in my excited rush to get my room painted, I didn’t take the time to actually consider how big of a job it was to actually complete it competently. I chose a color which was suitable for an 8 year old rather than teenager and most importantly I forgot to base the wall before painting on it.

The GOP is making the same exact mistake.

They are in such a rush to move on from the disastrous 2008 campaign that they have not had a clear debate on what actually went wrong. In fact, I could be wrong: the debate has already taken place and the right-wing has decided that the Republican Party should pure in its conservative ideology. I believe they are painting over their dated cracks on their political wall, choosing a dated color which looks appealing to the painter but looks horrendous to everybody else. Palin, Jidal and Gingrich are a terrible color for the GOP.

Crist on the other hand is rounded firmly in conservative principles — but he also realizes it is a new day in American politics. This is a man who cares about climate change and signed an executive order to decrease pollution in Florida by 2050. He also opposes offshore drilling (drill baby drill, still makes me laugh till this day). Oh, and lets not forget that he supported Obama’s stimulus plan. With that said you are still looking at a man that is very pro-gun, pro- capital punishment and anti-gay marriage.

It baffles me that instead of trying to set Crist up as the heir to Obama (yes, I think Obama will be a two term president), they are looking to derail his Senate bid. Why? Because he agreed with Obama on the stimulus plan? A plan which he felt his state needed to keep their head above water? Sorry but this doesn’t pass the smell test from the Republicans.

I believe that Mr Crist, given the backing from the Republicans, will be a big problem for the Democratic Party in 2016.

Dalitso Njolinjo lives in Northamptonshire, England. He is an aspiring writer and communications consultant. He writes that he “enjoys all things politics, sports and French. The ungodly trinity.” He also writes on his own blog.