What If Charlie Crist Wins?

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Blogger Michael Chase looks at the new Senate dynamics in the event of a Charlie Crist victory.

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Charlie Crist (I) Florida. This very interesting notion may become a reality. A lock to replace Mel Martinez in the Senate just last fall, the rise of Marco Rubio has left the Governor of Florida in a tight spot. He can stay in the Republican primary and lose, ending his political career. He can turn the race into a three-way affair by running as an independent and lose, ending his political career. Or, he can drop out of the race and preserve his Republican credentials by throwing his support behind Rubio.

Oh how are the mighty fallen….of course Crist could win as an independent, and wouldn’t that be intriguing? The Republican Party, at every level, has made it clear that a Crist bid as an independent would make him a non-starter with the Party in the future. But the old saying, politics makes for strange bedfellows, needs to be clearly understood in this case. If Charlie Crist were to run and win as an independent, and do it with the full weight of Grover Norquist, Freedom Works, and the Republican National Committee against him, he would step into the Senate as an instant heavyweight.

This is the Republican Party’s great fear. His election might be worse for their party than Kendrick Meeks’ (the Dem’s longshot). Charlie Crist is an old-fashioned moderate Republican. He believes less in social services and more in supply side economics. But Crist the moderate is not anathema to the Democratic agenda; he would be willing to work with that party because he understands that in doing so, he can impart legislation with a conservative sensibility. Environmental legislation that found its first Oval Office supporter in the person of Richard Nixon would see an active legislative participant in Crist. That of course, is just the tip of the quickly melting iceberg.

The G.O.P. fear of Crist in the Senate is well-founded. As an independent Republican elected despite the resistance of the Party, he would be immune to the Party whip and free to open the door to other Republicans more interested in legislating from their point of view than obstructing the Democratic agenda. Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe and, most recently, Scott Brown (of all people) appear to be amenable to reason across a number of issues. They recognize that participation across party lines leads to legislation driven less by ideology and more by purpose.

Senator Charlie Crist, were he to step in with a small block of rational conservatives, would water down the influence of Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson (something this country desperately needs), in a way that the election of Kendrick Meeks never could. More than just a vote, Crist could become a leader and a lever, working towards centrist legislation.

Of course, a Meeks election might only happen in a Democrat wave election, which is possible (however unlikely). In that case, Meeks would be one of 62 Democrats in the Senate, and Scott Brown and the Maine twins would lose all of their luster. Both of these scenarios pivot on the effects of a radicalized G.O.P forced to turn right. Like many races around the country this fall, the presence of a Tea Party darling in Florida gives cause for hope to progressives of all stripes.

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Michael Chase publishes The Rational Middle

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