Crist Tacks Right: They Called Me ‘Chain Gang Charlie’

Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL) and former state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL), who is fending off a challenge from the right by former state House Speaker Marco Rubio in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, is busy burnishing his conservative credentials, the Lakeland Ledger reports.

“When I was in the state Senate I was nicknamed ‘Chain Gang Charlie,'” said Crist. “It’s hard to get right of that.”

Crist also boasted that he has been “about as conservative as you can get”: “No governor has cut taxes more, no governor has vetoed more pork bills and no governor has spent more time reducing spending.”

The single biggest issue that Rubio can use against Crist is the governor’s endorsement of President Obama’s stimulus bill. Let’s see if “Chain Gang Charlie” can fight his way out of it.

Latest DC
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: