Thursday, April 29, 2010

Charlie Crist is expected to announce today...

...that he is abandoning his quest for the Republican nomination for the U. S. Senate from Florida. Instead, Crist will run in the fall as an independent against GOP (and tea party favorite) Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek.

Crist was getting crushed in the polls by Rubio but has shown to be competitive in a three-way race. If elected, Crist would be the third independent in the U. S. Senate. (Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont are the other two.)

Could this be the beginning of a trend? After all, it's hard to see many Republicans who are acceptable to the base attracting over 50% in a general election; they're just too extreme. Maybe this is the solution to the partisan battles that have plagued Washington. If five or ten (or more) independents were in the Senate and worked with both parties to pass legislation, more might get accomplished.

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