PrintNovember 5, 2009
Charlie Crist: revisionist historian
Isn't it funny how quickly politicians abandon their original positions after being on the wrong side of an issue is used against them? Charlie Crist is the latest culprit of the phenomenon, revisionist history.
During an appearance yesterday on CNN, Crist had this to say about the president's stimulus package:
"I didn't endorse it. I didn't even have a vote on the darn thing. But I understood that it was gonna pass and I wanted to be able to utilize it for the benefit of my fellow Floridians."
Are you sure you didn't support the stimulus Governor Crist?
Because if you didn't, why did the St. Petersburg Times run this story back in February?
Gov. Charlie Crist takes heat from Republicans for supporting stimulus package
Hmm, looks like the Miami Herald chimed in too:
GOP seethes over Charlie Crist's stimulus-plan support.
Maybe they had the other Republican Governor Charlie Crist in mind.
All jokes aside, Crist's desire to abandon the sinking stimulus ship is understandable. The White House is making up the numbers of jobs "saved or created" as they go along and Economic Adviser Christina Romer recently testified that the stimulus will have little effect in 2010, which is astounding given that most of the money from the package will be distributed then. But that doesn't change the fact that he was an advocate for the bill and made an appearance at a town hall meeting with the president to promote it.
When it was good politics to support a new, popular president's initiative Crist did it, but now that it looks bad, he's avoiding Obama when he comes to the state, running radio ads, and appearing on national television to cleanse his hands of it. Unfortunately, all this proves is that Crist is a typical politician. Fortunately, Marco Rubio, his opponent in the next year's GOP Senate primary, isn't going to let Floridians forget Crist's support of the stimulus, which is one reason he's slicing into the governor's lead in the polls; a further sign that maybe the American people are tired of typical politicians.
All jokes aside, Crist's desire to abandon the sinking stimulus ship is understandable. The White House is making up the numbers of jobs "saved or created" as they go along and Economic Adviser Christina Romer recently testified that the stimulus will have little effect in 2010, which is astounding given that most of the money from the package will be distributed then. But that doesn't change the fact that he was an advocate for the bill and made an appearance at a town hall meeting with the president to promote it.
When it was good politics to support a new, popular president's initiative Crist did it, but now that it looks bad, he's avoiding Obama when he comes to the state, running radio ads, and appearing on national television to cleanse his hands of it. Unfortunately, all this proves is that Crist is a typical politician. Fortunately, Marco Rubio, his opponent in the next year's GOP Senate primary, isn't going to let Floridians forget Crist's support of the stimulus, which is one reason he's slicing into the governor's lead in the polls; a further sign that maybe the American people are tired of typical politicians.
J.C. Arenas is a frequent contributor to American Thinker and welcomes your comments at jcarenas.com.
