Discussion for article #222470
I believe him.
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Did Charlie Crist become a Republican before or after the ‘Southern Strategy’?
In Floriduh, the truth may set you free, but may not get you elected. Here’s hoping you can be.
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So it looked the same to a former insider as it does to us outsiders.
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And in other late breaking news: Water is Wet.
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Years ago, I worked with a man from Alabama. He was ex-military, with a doctorate in nuclear physics. When others disagreed with his right-wing rants, he’d end the discussion with, “Someday, you’ll be the last White man left in the Democratic Party.”
Virtually every journalist and politician grasps the ideology of today’s GOP base, but Charlie Crist broke the rules by admitting it in public. Now watch how quickly Frat members marginalize him and concoct false-equivalence narratives. No more Villager interviews (or cocktail parties) for him.
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When President Obama was running for president in 2008 I was invited over to my elderly neighbor for supper which is the same as dinner in the south and we got to talking about President Obama and I told her it was amazing that we could have an AA for president. What she said was that he is not like us and looked at me like I knew what she was talking about. I thought she meant because he was from Chicago or something. I did not realize that she was talking about him being an AA because she was a democrat. When I got home a light bulb went off in my head and realized she was talking about race. Many southern democrats turned into republicans when President Obama became president because of his being an AA. Older southern republicans and some democrats but not all still have the mindset of how they grew up in a racist south. I grew up when there were separate everything for whites and AAs too, but did not grow up being racist. Maybe it is just too hard and ingrained in some southerners to change and a lot of them seem to be republicans.
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Eh, I really don’t think that’s fair. I have no doubt that a lot of good and decent folks have been telling themselves that the Republican Party racism was simply coming from “certain elements” and that it wasn’t indicative of the party as a whole. It’s just gotten so outlandish, so overt over the last several years that the good and decent ones can no longer ignore it. I have no doubt that some folks like Christ have turned a blind to it because it was politically advantageous to do so, but I also think there’s probably a good number of folks who didn’t see it because their privilege wouldn’t allow them to.
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Those Southern Democrats had become Republicans long before Obama came along – it started with Goldwater and his appeal to the Southern Democrat racist base. Recall the only region where Goldwater did well was the Deep South. LBJ said after the Civil Rights act was passed, that Democrats had lost the Southern vote for a generation. He was wrong in only one respect: It’s been longer than a generation and there is still no sign that Southern Whites have changed.
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I know another thing that humiliated Charlie Crist.
He was on stage with McCain/Palin, somewhere in the
Panhandle, when she started doing her “Drill, baby, Drill”
skit and got a 1st rousing applause. Watching his face was
priceless as he’s a big Florida environmentalist and an avid
fisherman in Tampa Bay with his own 32 foot boat docked at
a St. Pete marina. He started distancing himself from the pair
and extended voting days and hours shortly thereafter.
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Well, actually there is a sign they’ve changed for the worse. Look at KY and WV. In both states Democrats have huge voter registration advantages yet both states voted overwhelmingly against Obama AND both states had a large number of voters who openly admitted they wouldn’t vote for Obama because of the color of his skin. That’s why when it comes to state income taxes, I’ve gotten damn near Republican. I’m sick of my tax dollars supporting these pieces of shit.
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Always remember: the District of Columbia is, in every important respect, a city in the American South.
DC may “technically” be in the South, but culturally and politically its a big Northern city.
Culturally a Northern city? None of my friends who’ve grown up or lived there would agree with you. My sister, who lives there now, would certainly not agree with you.
it is the truth but another sad truth is because african americans, women, young people, gays etc wont show up to vote in the mid terms he dont stand a chance here in florida. it will be heavy on old white people , which means tea party, that vote in the 2016 election. thats what happened in 2010 when crist lost to rubio and rick scott was elected. if people cant be bothered to vote then we get what we deserve.
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The votes in KY and WV Dem primaries in 2008 bear that out.
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It’s funny, after seeing his many appearances on The Ed Show, Crist is one of the few out of state candidates who I’ve been donating to directly via a standing monthly contribution. I really like the guy. In fact, I liked him even when he was a Republican. He’s a good dude and I absolutely believe that racism played a part in his decision to break from the Republican Party.
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Well one can be suspicious if one wants, but I like Charlie Crist. Even when he was a republican he was a moderate and in case one forgets, he extended voting in Florida in the 2008 election when he was governor because he believed in everyone being able to vote. He didn’t care what the crazies said. Hats off to Crist
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Were it not for my hue and the fact that as a strategy for decades, whenever Republicans needed to change the subject or a election year issue to rally around – they’d casually resort to bigotry, misogyny, homophobia and xenophobia…I might agree with you.
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