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So Much For The Jeb Effect

Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist and Davis are in what polls say is a tight race for the top job in Tallahassee. Term limits prevent incumbent Gov. Jeb Bush from running for a third term. Davis, buoyed by the surveys showing a narrowing gap in Crist’s lead, criticized his opponent for staying away from Pensacola […]

Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist and Davis are in what polls say is a tight race for the top job in Tallahassee. Term limits prevent incumbent Gov. Jeb Bush from running for a third term.

Davis, buoyed by the surveys showing a narrowing gap in Crist’s lead, criticized his opponent for staying away from Pensacola on Monday, when President Bush was in town for a Republican rally. He accused Crist of being afraid to stand before a president with a withering approval rating. ~Pensacola News Journal

If there was one thing that almost everyone seemed to agree on this year, it was that Charlie Crist had the Florida governor’s race in the bag.  This one was supposed to be fairly easy in a year that was otherwise full of obstacles for the GOP, as Crist was supposed to be as socially moderate and broadly acceptable as Katherine Harris was combative and strangely obsessed with Israel.  He also benefited from the general good feeling and popularity of outgoing Gov. Jeb Bush, whose decisive re-election in 2002 spearheaded a GOP surge in Florida that made the state’s former status as the Ur-battleground state in 2000 seem like some bizarre aberration.  Now Florida-as-swing-state seems to be returning, and Crist is showing the same signs of weakness many Republican candidates for governor are showing around the country.  He will probably hold on to win, but Davis’ late surge could help put Democrats lower on the ticket over the top in close races.  Crist’s embarrassing avoidance of a scheduled appearance with the other Bush only underscores just how radioactive the President is in much of Florida and how bad the environment for Republicans is this year.

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