Crist: No to Rewarding Teachers

Today, Charlie Crist once again ignored the will of his party leaders in Florida, including his colleague, former Governor Jeb Bush, and voted with the Democrats and Teacher Unions by vetoing Senate Bill 6.

Crist’s motivations are unclear, especially considering he is losing support among the conservative base in his Senate Race. With this vote, he only confirms that he is a RINO- Republican in Name only. He is not someone that we want to send to Washington to vote on healthcare reform or cap and tax.

Immediately, after the veto, his own Attorney General, Bill McCollum put out this statement:

I am deeply disappointed Governor Crist succumbed to the pressure from Democrat Alex Sink and the unions by putting bureaucracy above the best interest of our children and teachers. The veto of Senate Bill 6 is a significant setback to our strides in education reform, which will limit Florida’s ability to compete on the world stage. We need to reward teachers and give them the tools to succeed, as was proposed in this legislation. As Governor, I will lead the charge to enact reforms that will ensure our children and teachers are positioned to be the very best they can be.

The final result of this move has not been seen yet, but several of Crist’s key supporters withdrew their support after his veto of Senate Bill 6.

Their has been speculation in recent days that Crist will pull out of the Republican Party and run as an independent in the upcoming General Election in November. So far, his campaign has not ruled it out as a possibility.

Gotta Have Faith


Looks like things aren’t going well for Romney. Yesterday McCain’s mother got the ball rolling again, addressing the issue of Romney’s faith. Today, New Hampshire voters wouldn’t leave it alone. Voters want to know how this would play into his decision making process. It’s a valid question.

Which brings me back to what I said the other day. He’s got a hill to climb, especially in the Bible Belt. I wasn’t far off. In September according to a Pew Research Center poll in September, a quarter of all Republicans – including 36 percent of white evangelical Protestants – said they would be less likely to vote for a Mormon.

Which brings us back to the question…Who do conservatives vote for? They’re not voting for Romney. Guiliani has too many issues with the biggest being pro-choice. And McCain stills leaves a bad taste in many Republican mouths.

Looks like were back to Mike Huckabee or Duncan Hunter. I know the so-called front runners have ruled Huckabee out, but it looks like he’s picking up steam in Iowa. Only time and votes will tell.

FL’s Primary Too Late?

There was talk here in Florida about changing our Primary Election Date to somewhere around the 1st of March. However, that may be too late. According to a report released in The Hill the other day 23 states are in the frame to hold primary elections on Feb 5. That’s a whole month earlier than Florida.

Those states include: Delaware, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, California, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas, Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, North Dakota, Utah, Kansas, Colorado, West Virginia, Nevada, and possibly Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

So what’s Florida to do? Considering that we can’t hold it before the 1st of March if we don’t want to incur penalties set down by the legislature.

So with about half of the states voting early now, maybe the only fair thing to do is have a National Primary Day so that all states have an equal voice.