At this point, it’s pretty obvious that my friend and blogging colleague, Kartik Krishnaiyer, will be on opposite sides during the Democratic primary of Florida’s 2014 gubernatorial race. I, of course, will be aligned with the forces of good and light, meaning I’ll be on Charlie Crist’s side, while Kartik seems to be determined to stand on the opposite side of the street.
That’s perfectly fine. In fact, I look forward to a respectful, but pointed, debate with Kartik over the next fifteen months about who is the best candidate to challenge Rick Scott.
What’s not fine is Kartik exaggerating his analysis to make things sound worse for Crist than they are.
Case in point is a blog post today from the Florida Squeeze titled, “Alex Sink’s comments about Charlie Crist strike a chord with Democratic activists.” The post is about Sink’s “much talked about comments to the Tampa Bay Times on Wednesday were well-timed given the growing resentment of Charlie Crist’s seemingly inevitable candidacy among Democratic activists. Reaction from the Jefferson-Jackson dinner among activists has been one of consternation as party elites push Crist’s possible candidacy.”
Kartik is more in tune with Democratic activists than I am, but let’s keep in mind what the most recent Quinnipiac poll said about Crist’s connection to rank-and-file Democrats.
The poll finds Crist actually does better with Democrats against Scott than Nelson does. Both do well, of course, but Crist gets 83 percent of Democrats while Bill Nelson gets 82 percent. That’s an impressive figure for Crist, especially since he has only been in his new party for six months, notes Jeff Henderson of Sunshine State News.
Democrats also see Crist as more favorable than they do Nelson. Only 11 percent of Democrats see Crist as unfavorable but 67 percent have a favorable take on Crist. Nelson is seen as favorable by 59 percent of Democrats, unfavorable by 5 percent of them, but 34 percent don’t know enough about him to have an opinion.
That’s stunning, especially since Nelson won a third term in the Senate last year and has been around in Florida politics for 40 years.
In other words, Crist is already more popular with Florida Democrats than Bill Nelson, the standard-bearer for the party in the state.
Another misconception in Kartik’s post is that “not having a primary in 2010 prevented Sink from connecting with base voters and understanding how to appeal to them.”
That’s complete hogwash. What prevented Sink from not connecting with base voters are several reasons, including Sink’s decision to distance herself from Barack Obama, to distance herself from Obamacare, and to distance herself from black voters. Running in a primary against a tomato can would have done nothing to undo the damage caused by these decisions.
The silliest argument made by Krishnaiyer in his blog post is that “… the discussion of Harry Sargeant has become a more regular topic among Democrats throughout the state.”
Listen, there is more ammunition to fire at Charlie Crist than what was expended during World War Z, but no one, and I do mean NO ONE, is using the Harry Sargeant line of attack. I don’t know what “Drinking Liberally” meet-up, Kartik was at where they were discussing Harry Sargeant, but not one person in a thousand is making the discussion of Harry Sargeant “a more regular topic.”
Like I said, there are so many legitimate, logical ways to get at Crist. But today’s post from Krishnaiyer avoids using them. Maybe he was throwing some red meat to the Susan Smith’s of the world, but I, for one, expect more from his analysis.
