Word: cristed
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Still, many indicators suggest Crist might help himself and his party by taking what prominent Florida political analyst Susan MacManus calls "the more forward-looking route for Republicans." Martinez, who also served briefly as chairman of the Republican National Committee, insists he's quitting the Senate to spend more time with his family. But the Senate's first Cuban-American member is also leaving under a cloud of frustration with his party's vitriol against immigration reform and the Sotomayor appointment. In 2008 the GOP's anti-immigration stance helped drop John McCain's share of the Latino vote...
...voters in 2008, a 5-point increase over John Kerry's tally in 2004. And while about half of female Floridians voted for Bush in 2004, 52% went for Obama last year. As a result, says MacManus, a political-science professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa, "Crist could end up making a bold appointment when you consider how helpful a little diversity would be to the Republican image at this point...
...itself is a comment on both the Democratic and the Republican parties in Florida. Flores, who has also been mentioned as a possible candidate for lieutenant governor in 2010, would draw the younger, female and Hispanic voters the GOP lacks, but as a strong social conservative, she could help Crist with Florida's right wing...
Meanwhile, a lot of Floridians are asking why Crist is so spooked by the conservatives, led by his chief primary rival, state senator Marco Rubio. Crist, whose popularity since being elected in 2006 eclipses that of his more conservative predecessor, Jeb Bush, has already raised almost $4.5 million for his Senate run, compared with the less than $500,000 raised by Rubio. Crist won the 2006 primary in a landslide as a moderate - not all that difficult, given Florida's reputation as one of the nation's most politically centrist states - and his endorsement of John McCain helped that moderate...
...Development, Martinez was ushered into the Senate in 2004 by the conservative Republican machine of George W. Bush's political guru, Karl Rove. (His primary campaign smeared his opponent as pro-gay just because he supported hate-crimes legislation.) But that GOP faction eventually exasperated Martinez. It's something Crist needs to think about as he mulls the best way to win the Senate's seat next year - and the best choice to fill it next month...