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Politics

Charlie Crist Runs Commercials Claiming the Middle

September 12, 2010 - 6:00pm

Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running in the U.S. Senate campaign without party affiliation, has launched two new television commercials, both of which attempt to show the governor is able to work above partisan politics -- while his opponents seek to remind Florida voters about Crist's record.

Both of the commercials feature Crist in a polo shirt, walking on the beach, touting that he will take the best ideas from Democrats and Republicans while rejecting the worst ones.

The Crist team is also beginning to attack former House Speaker Marco Rubio, the Republican candidate in the race. Over the weekend, the Crist campaign posted its candidates tax returns and called on Rubio to do the same.

Major media outlets have reported Marco Rubio is being investigated by the IRS for his lavish personal spending on the dime of Republican party bosses, and given taxpayers were also billed for thousands of dollars of his political travel, it is critical he release his tax returns immediately, said Danny Kanner, a spokesman for Crist. Voters have a right to know whether a candidate for the United States Senate has complied with federal law and accurately reported his income.

The Rubio camp countered that its candidate has already done so -- in fact, did so back in May -- and that the Crist team quickly removed its candidates tax return after initially posting it.

Marco Rubio is the only candidate who has posted his tax returns online, said Alex Burgos, a spokesman for Rubio, on Sunday. Charlie Crist is so desperate to say and do anything to win an election that he is now demanding that Rubio release the very tax returns he already released in May.

Furthermore, if transparency is so important to Charlie Crist, why has he removed his own tax returns from his website? demanded Burgos. Demanding that one person do something that you wont do yourself is the very definition of hypocrisy.

While Crist tries to claim the middle ground, both Rubio and U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the Democratic nominee in the Senate race, continue to pound the governor -- and ignore each other for the moment -- as they try to keep Democrats and Republicans from drifting over to Crist. While Rubio pounds Crist as a liberal who backed the federal stimulus plan supported by President Barack Obama, Meek hammers Crist for his record when he was still a Republican.

The Meek campaign weighed in on the Republican Party of Florida meeting over the weekend and said there is no difference between their two opponents.

"Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio are two lifelong conservative Republicans and the roles they played tearing down their own political party were exhibit A, B, and C during this weekend in Orlando," Adam Sharon, a spokesman for Meek, said on Sunday. "The finger-pointing, name-calling, and dueling press releases between two lifelong members of the Republican Party of Florida prove that Crist and Rubio are cut from the same cloth. Both are very familiar with each other's past because their track record is one and the same. Once a full audit of Republican Party finances is released, the proximity between Kendrick's two conservative opponents will only become clearer."

Meeks camp followed that statement up on Monday by blasting Crists record on LGBT issues.

"It's obvious Charlie Crist is willing to say anything, said Abe Dyk, Meeks campaign manager, in response to a report that Crist was prepared to focus on LBGT issues this week and will reach out to the gay community. The only thing Charlie Crist says today that you can believe tomorrow is that he wants to be elected. The only thing we know about Charlie Crist's track record is that he is a lifelong conservative Republican who has fought against every Democratic value. The governor's charade trying to hide his lifelong conservative record just to get elected is an insult to every Floridian."

Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.

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