Frustration Setting In In Crist Campaign?
Based on some quotes from this Miami Herald article, I think it’s safe to say that there’s a bit of frustration setting into the Crist campaign. Here’s what I’m talking about:
“I’m not really concerned about poll numbers. I’m concerned about the people,” Crist said Monday in Miami, batting away questions about the former Florida House speaker’s surging poll numbers at a news conference about bringing critically injured Haitians to the state.
The governor’s remarks in Miami echoed the swipe he took at Rubio last week in Tallahassee: “I don’t have the luxury of going around the state and politicking all day,” he said. “I’m going to do my job.”
Politicians that tell us that they don’t pay attention to polling, especially polling that shows them trailing by double digits, shouldn’t be taken seriously. That’s just their attempt to minimize the devastating effect that those polls are having on their campaign.
The only politicians that I might believe after saying that are principled politicians or true believers. Charlie Crist doesn’t fit either description. What’s worst for the Crist campaign is that Crist is losing credibility daily. In the quote above, he says that he doesn’t have “the luxury” of travelling throughout Florida to go “politicking all day” only to have the newspaper note this:
His official calendar lately tells the story. A governor who used to routinely list one or two events a day, on Monday he had five scheduled events or meetings. On Tuesday, seven.
Perhaps there’s a justification for Gov. Crist’s travels that doesn’t include a purely political campaign motive but I’m not buying it. Gov. Crist is stepping up his travels because he’s losing. It’s just that uncomplicated.
The bad news for President Obama’s favorite Florida RINO is that the only good that’ll come from Crist’s travels is a minor boost in Florida’s tourist economy. Gov. Crist’s difficulties aren’t that he isn’t travelling enough. It’s that TEA Party activists are rejecting his message. Now that he’s got a record that he has to defend, life is getting more difficult.
Meanwhile, Marco Rubio’s biggest thing is to just keep working hard and keeping his message solid. That’s obviously working, which means there isn’t a reason to change. The bad news for Gov. Crist is that all the criticism in the world won’t change the appeal of Rubio’s message.
Technorati Tags: Campaigns, Charlie Crist, RINO, President Obama, Democrats, Marco Rubio, TEA Parties, Conservatism, Election 2010
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog