In an op-ed published last Sunday in the Tampa Bay Times, Charlie Crist, former Republican governor of Florida, sang President Barack Obama’s praises and endorsed him for re-election this year against Mitt Romney.
Although this is not particularly surprising for the one-time moderate Republican, it is yet another example of how moderates and centrists are being systematically cast out of the GOP in favor of more extreme, if not outright fringe, figures.
Crist governed as a moderate for one term and then decided to run for senator following Mel Martinez’s departure in 2009.
After losing in the Republican primary to Tea Party hero Marco Rubio, he changed his party affiliation to independent and ran in the 2010 general election against Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek, effectively splitting the Democratic vote and helping pave the way for a Rubio victory. Crist has remained an independent since then.
In this age of hyperpartisanship and intense political polarization, Crist’s apparent conversion seems like a thing of fantasy, a storybook anecdote of a nostalgic time when it didn’t appear that every member of the Republican Party wanted to require pregnant rape victims to bear their attackers’ children or give greed-driven oil companies free rein to blacken our waters and shores.
But it isn’t really Charlie Crist who changed that much.
Rather, it is Crist’s party that has drifted so far to the right on so many issues that he has instead joined a club consisting of the likes of Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN) and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME).
This club consists of the moderate Republicans who may have supported an Obama-backed policy at one point or another.
You know — soulless turncoat stuff.
By now, this brand is a critically endangered species, teetering on the edge of extinction by the asteroid impact that was the Tea Party movement.
Regrettably, this wipeout of the moderates has brought a surge in far right extremism, a barrage of rhetoric and legislation that undermines our democracy, our economy and our most basic rights.
For those Republicans who dare defy this trend, the prize is heated criticism from Fox News or, better yet, a nice primary challenge.
Take the economic crisis of 2008, directly caused by the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street aided by widespread deregulation: Charlie Crist spoke very highly of President Obama’s stimulus bill as it was being touted by the administration.
Or the recent wave in statewide voter ID laws, meant to gain unfair advantage for Republicans by suppressing the vote for minorities, seniors and students; Crist has come out against these new laws.
The result is ostracism from the GOP to the point that Crist will actually be speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., next week.
Some may argue, quite fairly, that Crist is simply a wishy-washy opportunist, quick to exploit the mass repugnance caused by the vitriolic gridlock plaguing our current political system.
This is highly plausible.
After all, Crist has never been a progressive by any means, and on many issues, like gun rights and marriage equality, he has been rather in lockstep with his former party.
Still, there is certainly something to say about a politician unafraid to question or even directly oppose policy positions sacred to his own party, a phenomenon not often seen.
If Crist truly does believe in the positions he espouses, then it shouldn’t be considered “opportunistic” if he gains any political advantage as a result.
It would simply mean that he has chosen to distance himself from ideas with which he disagrees and embrace those he supports.
Maybe this is asking for too much.
Moises Reyes is a journalism graduate student at UF. His column appears on Fridays. You can contact him at opinions@alligator.org.
