Word: crist
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...Crist is also waging his own campaign in this primary: a state ballot measure to lower Florida's property taxes and reform the tangled way they're assessed. A burgeoning number of Floridians complain that those taxes are spiraling out of their reach. But despite his personal popularity, the initiative is hardly certain to pass. Some critics consider it too watered down; others argue that it will deal a blow to Florida's already thin education spending. Yet even that decision could have an effect outside Florida, since many other states are grappling with the conundrum of exorbitant property taxes...
...this respect, the earlier primary could help him as well. Whereas past Florida primaries usually garnered below 20% turnouts when they were held in March, long after presumptive party nominees seemed to be decided, Crist is betting that a primary held in the thick of things will produce a turnout closer to 50%. And although he knows that the Democratic boycott could keep it down, all indications from the early voting that has already begun suggest turnout for both parties could hit record highs. That in turn could boost the chances for his property tax measure...
...even if it loses - most voter polls show it getting less than the 60% required to pass - Crist stands to remain popular. Despite the very real problems he's had with the tax and insurance efforts, his approval ratings still hover in the high 50s. Pundits agree that's largely because Crist is at least making the effort on issues that Floridians consider crucial to keeping the middle class viable in a state whose demographics make it an uncanny microcosm of the nation as a whole...
...Given all the attention on Florida and the race for the White House, it's no wonder that pundits and politicos are already wondering if Crist, 51, plans to channel his popularity into his own presidential bid some day. He says no candidate has approached him about a possible vice president spot on a ticket. And after a busy year in which he won reinstatement of ex-convict voter rights, ditched the state's controversial touch-screen voting machines, spearheaded a merit pay plan for Florida teachers and convened a major global warming summit in Miami, he insists...
...just focused on the here and now in Florida," Crist says. He adds, "I can't ask for more than what I've already gotten out of this job in the first year, especially from voters and the legislature." That's a nice political sentiment. But after watching Charlie Crist's first year, it's hard not to think that the "Sunshine Governor," as some call him, doesn't have loftier aspirations for the years ahead...