Charlie Crist Leaves with 50 Percent Approval

While 2010 did not go the way that Gov. Charlie Crist hoped, a new poll from Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm with connections to nationally prominent Democrats, revealed that he generally retains the backing of Floridians as he leaves office. The poll found Crist kept the approval of 50 percent of Floridians while 39 percent did not approve of his performance in office.

Tom Jensen of PPP pondered the governors future on his blog.

Crist may have a political future, but if he does it's in the Democratic Party, noted Jensen. Thirty-five percent of voters in the state say they would definitely not vote for him in a campaign somewhere down the road. But 26 percent say they definitely would and 36 percent are at least open to the possibility. Any thought that he might try to go back to being a Republican can probably be put aside by the fact that 50 percent of GOP voters say they would never vote for Crist ever again -- that's a pretty brutal starting point in a primary contest.

That leaves the options of going the independent route again -- which he presumably saw the perils of this year -- or just becoming a Democrat, continued Jensen. Twenty-seven percent of Democrats say they'd definitely vote for Crist in a future campaign and 43 percent are open to it with only 25 percent ruling out the possibility. So that's where his best chances in the future lie and wouldn't a Crist-Scott contest in 2014 be fascinating ... although Crist's odd choice to run for the Senate this year would suggest that maybe being governor wasn't his cup of tea.