Jacksonville, Fla. — Former Florida governor Jeb Bush tells National Review Online that Newt Gingrich should stop insinuating that Mitt Romney aides, due to their past work for Charlie Crist, are part of a moderate GOP conspiracy.
Earlier this week, for example, Gingrich told supporters that Romney hired Crist staffers, and emphasized the significance of this fact. “We discovered last night that Mitt Romney has picked up Charlie Crist’s campaign manager,” Gingrich said. “I thought that told you everything you need to know about this primary.”
“That’s not a serious accusation,” Bush says. “Candidates win elections. I’m not a big Charlie Crist fan, as you recall, but these guys shouldn’t have that moniker attached to them, as if Governor Romney is part of some evil plot. That’s ridiculous.”
Florida GOP politics are a sticky bit of cronyism...note Bill McCollum on stage with Newt Gingrich recently. McCollum, like Punxsutawney Phil on Feb.2nd, is not a great predictor of election outcomes in the Sunshine State, yet is now saying Romney is "too moderate" for Florida's ignorant voters.
McCollum lost the 2010 gubanatorial race to an outsider: Rick Scott. McCollum endorsed Charlie Crist for senate vs Marco Rubio. (Charlie Crist was the AG of Florida before handing the torch to McCollum). If anyone is "establishment" in Florida it is Bill McCollum, currently stirring the pot against Romney.
The Crist taint should not extend to the poor aides who had to jump ship when he ran as an independent, but it should remain etched on the establishment insiders who supported Crist as a "Jeb Bush" conservative. In addition to McCollum's great forecasting of Florida elections, he appears to have amnesia of his former support in Crist.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseNot to mention McCollum’s unsuccessful Senate campaign that gave us the great Bill Nelson back in 2000.
Congressman, Senator, Governor, AG – is there an office in the state McCollum has not run for at least once?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHis buddy, Crist, is chasing ambulances with an Orlando firm. Not sure what McCollum is doing now, other than being onstage with Gingrich.
It was telling when McCollum lost to Scott and would not even deliver a concession speech on election night, nor endorse him against the Democrat. Limp noodles do not stand up to pressure.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI guess Jeb doesn't read what the conservative pundits are saying about Newt Gingrich, literally stuffing Newt's head in the toilet every 60 seconds or so and flushing. He is getting the pundit world's version of waterboarding. No wonder he is defensive and fighting back like he is drowning!
It is simulated drowning, Newt - this is the treatment they are giving you in support of their candidate Romney, just like the liberal media does the same to Republican candidates in support of Obama.
Hang tough man! The American people are not as dumb as we used to be about these things.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"literally stuffing Newt's head in the toilet"
Literally? No wonder he seems so tired.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIf you don't have a counter argument you can always correct spelling and grammar. Of course I know the difference between literal and figurative, but in the political sense what Newt is getting from the conservative pundits amounts to waterboarding. It is the same thing the liberal media did to Sarah Palin in the last presidential election. They barely have enough time to catch a breath before the next head plunge into the toilet flush.
You want to be an English teacher, go ahead. But don't bother me in the process.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYou used a word to mean exactly the opposite of what it means. You got called on it.
Accept the reproof instead of acting like the English language is oppressing you.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYes, by all means, let's not concentrate on the point made. The English language is the real issue at stake.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe media had no idea who Sarah Palin was or what she believed in, so they just made things up.
Newt Gingrich has been a public figure for over 30 years.
There's a huge difference.
What you are doing is akin to what Obama supporters do. You say, essentially, "if you don't support Gingrich, you're part of some conspiracy." They say, "if you don't support Obama, you're racist."
In both cases, people have problems with Gingrich's and Obama policy issues.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIf the staffers stayed with Crist after he left the party, then Newt's quip is legitimate.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseGuilt by association - second & third hand association, at that. For employees!
Attack capitalism. Attack wealth. Attack Mormanism. Guilt by association.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbusePretty much the Liberal pantheon. All that's missing is, "Racist!" Why do I think that's in the works?
Don't worry, it's coming.
1978.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Racist!" was also there: Mitt is "anti-immigrant".
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThey won't come out explicitly and make the endorsement, but if you connect the dots it's reasonably obvious which horse Bush-Rubio are backing.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRomney got Crist's people.........and Newt's got Rubio's. It was on the radio a few days ago. On Hannity, I think.
Normally, this kind of thing would be pretty telling, but these are strange days, and it's wrong to notice that the progressive moderate in the race hired the people who worked on the moderate's campaign to work on his.
Wanted Rubio's endorsement......but not his campaign team? They went to Newt? to the more conservative candidate?
Who knows? Like I said, strange days
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt is Floriduh...don't try to figure it out. Romney will win and he has my vote.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'm sure it's meaningless. These guys go where the money is. Just like the ladies of the night.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI am so sick of how people who are obviously endorsing Mitt won't just come out and say so.
I haven't actually liked a single candidate presented this year except maybe Santorum, but Newt is far better than Mitt - as near as I can see, voting for Mitt is like voting to make Obamacare legitimate.
I remember Newt for talking about things that need to be said (like "contract with America") and I remember him for acting on ideas (welfare reform). It almost seems like that's exactly what the GOP *doesn't* want - someone who might actually name the real unnameable problems and even (gasp) make real changes.
But the fact that the GOP establishment is more interested in manipulating than listening to me has ensured that I won't be registered as a Republican this time next year.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOh look, Jeb now wants to board on the Romney train now that it's obvious he's going to win.
Jeb was clearly holding his endorsement back (despite NUMEROUS reports that it had been promised to Romney) because he had plans to jump in and run if Newt took Florida with some sort of brokered convention. Does anyone really doubt that he had ambitions and was probably rooting for Newt to take Romney out?
Jeb needs to just go away and realize that the American people are not going to have three Republican President in a row with the same last name.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseNot endorsing the Jeb concept, just commenting on "the American people".
We had the wife of a Governor & President, a person with absolutely no 'governing' experience whatsoever, who the day after leaving the White House moved to NY and ran for Senate. She was easily elected & soon after was the leading candidate of her party for President, until she was steamrolled by Liberal White Guilt.
We now have talk of the wife of a 1/2-term Senator & President, again with absolutely no 'governing' experience, being talked up as a Senate candidate in 4 years. And I'll ask, how long after that a Presidential candidate?
Clinton, Clinton's wife. Obama, Obama's wife. And you think having the last name Bush will disqualify Jeb with "the American people'? We are, unfortunately, in the age of American Idol politics. The large majority of 'the American people' are completely ignorant of their political choices & the consequences of each.
The thought of dynastic politics makes me more than a littel queasy, but that is the current state of American politics.
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