The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Take a Chill Pill, Phil

Posted on | April 21, 2010 | 10 Comments

My friend Philip Klein of the American Spectator goes into Eeyore mode over the prospect of a three-way Florida Senate election with “independent” Charlie Crist:

Yet, while a Quinnipiac poll taken last week found that he trailed Marco Rubio by 23 points in the primary, it also found that in a general election, Crist leads Rubio by a narrow 32 percent to 30 percent margin, with Democrat Kendrick Meek at 24 percent.
So, yes, it is true that Crist’s independent run would encounter obstacles. But it’s at least plausible that he can win, whereas if he stays in the Republican primary or drops out of the race altogether, he’s virtually assured to be out of public office come January.

Yes, Phil, and in June 2009 Quinnipiac showed Charlie Crist beating Rubio 54-23.

So Crist has gone from +31 to -23 in the span of 10 months. Why? Because Marco Rubio is an appealing young conservative and Charlie Crist is a washed-up, two-faced, backstabbing crapweasel. The more voters got to know Rubio, the more they liked him, and the more they got to know Sorry Charlie . . . eh, not so much.

Excuse me for going into my “I’ve Got Ties Older Than You, Kid” curmudgeon routine, but you kids have got to stop buying into this intellectual nonsense that politics is about polls and trends.

Politics is about people. Those political phenomena that appear from the bird’s-eye view as indomitable “trends” are, in fact the results of human activity — the various efforts of innumerable individuals.

Men make trends, and not the other way around. To believe otherwise is to concede the game before it begins, to surrender to anomie and apathy, drifting along without purpose or direction, helpless and inert. If Scott Brown had taken that attitude, Martha Coakley would be a senator today.

“I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing.”
— Ronald Reagan, Jan. 20, 1981

During the 1864 Battle of the Wilderness, the Confederates made a night attack that scattered a couple of brigades in Sedgewick’s division on the right flank, and a panic-stricken officer reported to U.S. Grant that all was lost. Lee was surely going to cut off their line of supply and put them in a trap, the officer declared.

Grant exploded. He was sick and tired of hearing what Lee was going to do, he said. “Some of you always seem to think he is suddenly going to turn a double somersault and land in our rear and on both flanks at the same time.” To the panicky officer, Grant ordered: “Go back to your command and try to think what we are going to do ourselves, instead of what Lee is going to do!”

That’s exactly what the problem is with all this doom-and-gloom worry-wart attitude about polls and trends. If you start letting yourself be panicked by polls, it leads to political paralysis. 

A poll is not a prediction. It’s nothing but the measurement of opinion at any given time. Good candidates and good campaigns actually change people’s opinions.

For several weeks now, Crist has been running a desperate smear campaign against Rubio — honestly, does anybody think this IRS investigation story is a coincidence? — and the only real effect has been the final destruction of Crist’s credibility. Crist himself is as likely as anyone to be burned by Jim Greer’s Florida GOP scandal:

Gov. Charlie Crist has moved swiftly in the last few weeks to distance himself from the widening scandal engulfing his hand-picked state GOP chairman. . . .
According to hotel invoice records obtained by the Orlando Sentinel, Crist, along with his much of his traveling entourage (former chief of staff George LeMieux, former general counsel Jason Gonzalez, former communications director Erin Isaac, and others), stayed at the Rosen Shingle Creek resort in early January 2009.
The event: Jim Greer’s re-election as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.
Who picked up the check? Greer and Delmar Johnson, who charged the $26,000 tab for Crist’s presidential suite, along with the other rooms, VIP valet parking, restaurants, mini-bar tabs, in-room movies and meals.

“Crist’s presidential suite” — ain’t that a kick in the head?

Victory seldom goes to those who are paralyzed by the fear of losing. So stop worrying about what the Quinnipiac poll says in April and start thinking about what Marco Rubio’s going to say in his victory speech on the evening of Nov. 2.

MARCO RUBIO for U.S. SENATE

Category: Election, Florida, Marco Rubio, Republicans, Senate, Uncategorized

Comments

10 Responses to “Take a Chill Pill, Phil”

  1. Miss Sharon
    April 21st, 2010 @ 11:47 pm

    “…Charlie Crist is a washed-up, two-faced, backstabbing crapweasel.”

    More adjectives, please.

    The Hillbuzz Boys have some interesting inside baseball on Crist. It’s time to go all Massa on him.

  2. Adobe Walls
    April 21st, 2010 @ 11:47 pm

    There’s something in the air this year and I doubt it favors the likes of Charlie Crist.

  3. Miss Sharon
    April 21st, 2010 @ 6:47 pm

    “…Charlie Crist is a washed-up, two-faced, backstabbing crapweasel.”

    More adjectives, please.

    The Hillbuzz Boys have some interesting inside baseball on Crist. It’s time to go all Massa on him.

  4. Adobe Walls
    April 21st, 2010 @ 6:47 pm

    There’s something in the air this year and I doubt it favors the likes of Charlie Crist.

  5. Bannor
    April 22nd, 2010 @ 12:29 am

    While it would have been nice to get rid of Charlie in August or sooner seeing him come in last in a 3 way race should feel pretty good. Not to be left out the Libertarian party for the first time in history is fielding a candidate in this race. So I don’t get Libertarians, Rubio is the most conservative candidate we’ve had for a state wide office in Florida for some time and that’s not good enough for them. Meek is flat out unelectable, Crist only stands for what will get him elected at the time, and those fools go and run a 34 year old office supply salesman just so they can have someone on the ballet?

  6. Bannor
    April 21st, 2010 @ 7:29 pm

    While it would have been nice to get rid of Charlie in August or sooner seeing him come in last in a 3 way race should feel pretty good. Not to be left out the Libertarian party for the first time in history is fielding a candidate in this race. So I don’t get Libertarians, Rubio is the most conservative candidate we’ve had for a state wide office in Florida for some time and that’s not good enough for them. Meek is flat out unelectable, Crist only stands for what will get him elected at the time, and those fools go and run a 34 year old office supply salesman just so they can have someone on the ballet?

  7. Joe
    April 22nd, 2010 @ 4:13 am

    I hope Rubio pulls this out. I like him and think he is one of the best conservatives out there. Who knows, maybe Marco could be running for President after a term or two in the Senate.

  8. Joe
    April 21st, 2010 @ 11:13 pm

    I hope Rubio pulls this out. I like him and think he is one of the best conservatives out there. Who knows, maybe Marco could be running for President after a term or two in the Senate.

  9. McGehee
    April 22nd, 2010 @ 1:05 pm

    So I don’t get Libertarians, Rubio is the most conservative candidate we’ve had for a state wide office in Florida for some time and that’s not good enough for them.

    The purpose of a political party is to get its candidates elected. The Libertarian Party doesn’t benefit from a Republican resurgence, so it’s not going to help it happen.

  10. McGehee
    April 22nd, 2010 @ 8:05 am

    So I don’t get Libertarians, Rubio is the most conservative candidate we’ve had for a state wide office in Florida for some time and that’s not good enough for them.

    The purpose of a political party is to get its candidates elected. The Libertarian Party doesn’t benefit from a Republican resurgence, so it’s not going to help it happen.