Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry called former Florida Gov. Charlie Crists appearance Thursday at the Democratic National Convention sad to watch.
It was really sad to watch Charlie Crists speech tonight, Curry stated in a release.
He struggled to find areas where he could agree with President Obama, but could find none. As a self-proclaimed pro-life, pro-gun, pro-family, anti-tax Reagan Republican -- who called himself as conservative as you could get -- Crist has a long history of disagreeing with Obama and the Democrats on virtually everything they believe in. This speech was a sad, shameful display of political opportunism where Crist tried once again to shed his own political skin. Charlie Crist proved tonight, as always, that he is only concerned about furthering his own political ambitions.
Many viewers only got to see a part of Crist's remarks as both CNN and Fox News went to commercial breaks midspeech. Only C-Span carried the address in full.
See the full text of Crist's speech in the attachment below.
Crist, a Republican-turned-independent who is rumored to be contemplating a run for governor in 2014 as a Democrat, said his endorsement of President Obama came from a need to find politicians willing to be flexible.
Crist, who left the party after being overtaken by now-U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, in the 2010 GOP Senate primary, also told the Democratic convention audience he could relate to former President Ronald Reagans famous line about leaving the Democratic Party in the early 1960s.
Half a century ago, Ronald Reagan, a man whose optimism was inspiring to me to enter politics, famously said at one time that he did not leave the Democratic Party but the party left him, Crist said. Listen, I can relate. I didnt leave the Republican Party, it left me.
Hogwash, says Curry. Pure hogwash.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
