Charlie Crist stood at the podium, a flabbergasted look on his face.
Moments before, his congressional opponent, David Jolly, had brandished the political knife he was more than ready to stick into Crist’s side, offering him the reminder of a nickname Crist was more than happy to leave behind.
"You stood there, over three African-American prisoners in chains, on their knees, on the side of the road. Saying that it was a great sight. Saying we needed to bring it to Florida," Jolly said at their first debate face-off in September.
“Chain Gang Charlie” was back to haunt him.
“That you say it had anything to do with race, I'm appalled,” Crist said in retort.
Yet, despite Crist’s attempts to deflect away from the race issue, it’s come front and center in the 11th hour in one of the state’s hottest congressional races.
As a state senator in the 1990s, Crist took the opportunity to visit Alabama to get ideas on how to handle Florida’s growing prison population.
In June 1995, Crist traveled with the former Alabama secretary of Department of Corrections, learning about chain gangs. Then a lightbulb went off in Crist’s head when he tried to figure out how to best handle Florida’s crime problem. Florida needed to shackle prisoners in chains while they toiled away on the sides of roads. Crist said he wasn’t concerned if some people called it barbaric -- prison isn’t supposed to be pleasant, after all, said Crist. He saw justice being done.
For many people, including blacks, who have a much higher incarceration rate than whites, the crackdown on crime meant their loved ones were sent to prison and forced to be a part of chain gangs, shackles around their ankles as if they weren't human. It is a sore subject and a sore memory.
Jolly offered a glimpse of his strategy at their first debate -- and now that strategy is in full swing. Over 20 years later, the conversation has turned to race, whether Crist wants it or not.
The black vote has moved front and center in what’s shaped up to be an incredibly tight race between incumbent Jolly and Washington-hopeful Crist.
Jolly has spent weeks in South St. Petersburg, where the African-American presence is strong. He has met with local church leaders, and gone around town speaking at NAACP candidate debates -- debates for which Crist never showed up.
Insiders in the Pinellas political community say Crist didn’t have any answers for the black community about his once-proud stance on the “Chain Gang Charlie” nickname. They say Crist likely thought the NAACP forum was a setup, so he ran to beachfront Treasure Island to hang up signs instead -- then he didn’t have to answer any questions he didn’t want to.
On top of that, Jolly has been running ads specifically targeting the black community, focusing on Crist’s once-glorified past and the contrast between Crist’s and Jolly’s rapport with the community.
In one Jolly ad, a black man says Crist “showed no mercy” to three black prisoners inhumanely chained before him.
“Charlie says he has no regrets,” the man says.
In another ad, Jolly casts himself as a friend to the black community and a champion of issues like jobs and criminal justice reforms.
FCC public inspection files showed cable buys for the ads on BET, OWN, and Lifetime network, where the spot has been targeted to adults over the age of 35 -- a core constituent of the voting population Jolly is trying to reach.
Typically, the African-American turnout is around 11 percent in Pinellas County. Now it’s in the single-digits, sitting at around six percent -- Jolly, seeing an opportunity, has hedged all his bets on turning out the black vote to swing the numbers in his favor Nov. 8.
Jolly has tried to show he is a better voice for blacks in Pinellas County. Some say Crist’s actions have said everything about what he really thinks of black voters in CD13.
“He has shown you what your importance is to him,” wrote Leslie Wimes. “He would rather place signs than address your issues and concerns, but let the St. Petersburg Yacht Club or the Tiger Bay Club call him, and he runs to their side faster than Usain Bolt.”
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
