Crist is maintaining radio silence, and this could all be a lot of hullabaloo for naught. But in case Crist does run as an independent, instead of say, waiting until 2012 to challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, The Daily Caller’s resident Florida politics expert Pat McMahon and I came up with a list of what Crist could do as governor to court moderates and independents over the course of his campaign.
1.) Power of the press: Crist can, and will, use his power as governor to hold press conferences defending decision that have a direct impact on November (see numbers 2 and 3)…
3.) He is the head of the Florida National Guard: Jeb Bush’s deft handling of Hurricanes Francis and Charlie in 2004 helped shore up his reputation as a competent governor, just as Pres. George W. Bush’s disastrous handling of Hurricane Katrina continues to solidify his reputation as a domestic nincompoop. Florida hasn’t had a bad hurricane season since 2004, but if it had one this year, and Crist handled it well, the quick dispatch of fallen trees, downed power lines, and flooding would be fresh on voters’ minds in November.
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