As Eric Conrad exits Charlie Crists campaign stage left, questions have to be asked about whats in the belly of the beast.
Conrad is a committed liberal Democrat. He worked for Enroll Florida, spreading the message of Obamacare. Conrad was a staffer for the Florida Democratic Party and an old Barack Obama hand. His commitment to the Democratic Party and left-of-center politics cant be questioned.
But after only a week, Conrad is now gone from Crists campaign team. Conrads quick departure summons memories of Bill Hyers. After guiding Bill de Blasio to an upset win in New York, Hyers was one of the hottest Democratic politicos in the nation. It was big news that he went to work for Crist. Hyers is a true believer, a liberals liberal, and he went to work for Crist who had been a Democrat for a year after years of positioning himself as a conservative Republican and winning three statewide offices.
But Hyers also quickly bailed on the Crist campaign. After a month, he hightailed it out of Florida and away from Crist. Hyers isnt done by any means. Hes currently handling Pat Quinns effort to stay in office in Illinois.
Even as Crist reinvents himself from pro-life, anti-gun-control Republican to a pro-choice, pro-gun control Democrat, liberals are rightly asking what their new colleague stands for. Democrats across Florida are starting to give Nan Rich a listen as she demands a debate with her primary rival. But Crist wont give one to Rich.
While liberals still have questions about what Crist stands for, they cant be pleased to see left-of-center activists ditching the campaign after short tenures. Nor does this bode well for November. Republicans insist they have the edge when it comes to a ground game and, based on their success in 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010 in Florida, the point must be conceded. Allison Tant and the Florida Democratic Party, the team that brought out Allie Braswell as their state CFO candidate without vetting him enough to recognize he had a history of personal bankruptcies, do little to inspire confidence. Crist has to build a team of his own and defections like Hyers and Conrad arent helping. Sure, Crist leads Gov. Rick Scott in most polls but its nowhere near by the margins he did a half year ago. Scott has enough money to keep running ads which will tarnish Crist even further.
With Crist staffers going through a revolving door, liberals and Democrats have to wonder if the GOP isnt correct about their former candidate. Republicans are portraying Crist as someone who cares more about his own ambitions than principles. This explains, Republicans say, why Crist couldnt bother to run for re-election to any of the three statewide offices he had, even forgoing a near-certain win for a second gubernatorial term to run for the Senate. It also helps explain why Crist left the GOP to run for the Senate with no party affiliation before joining the Democrats two years later, changing his positions as he switched parties.
And now stalwart liberals and committed Democrats like Hyers and Conrad leave the Crist team after the passage of mere days. Theyve been in the belly of the beast. They could have seen how empty, how vacuous and how committed to his own career, instead of to issues, Charlie Crist actually is.
Tallahassee-based political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this analysis exclusively for Sunshine State News.
