Heh

I can't tell whether this is a big FU from Crist to the base or just cronyism. Hell, maybe he wants to be really "bipartisan" and do a deal on healthcare.  

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by: andgarden @ Fri Aug 28, 2009 at 17:12:50 PM UTC

I cant help but feel like

There was no way he was going to pick someone with a vociferous position against gay rights.  I dunno, something about him tells me he's not into all that anti-gay rhetoric  ;)

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by: Andrew @ Fri Aug 28, 2009 at 18:11:31 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It should be mentioned, though

that LeMieux is against marriage equality.

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by: James L. @ Fri Aug 28, 2009 at 18:16:30 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

That's fine

Crist is already married anyway.  Oh Charlie Crist.....

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by: Andrew @ Fri Aug 28, 2009 at 18:29:19 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Whatever

Probably a good pick for Rubio.

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by: conspiracy @ Fri Aug 28, 2009 at 18:12:11 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm impressed with Crist

This is a hell of a move that will cause the conservatives to be up in arms.  I can't help but respect Crist for tapping this dude.  It sounds like to me that the GOP moderate faction has grown by one with this appointment (i.e. went from about 4 to 5).

Crist was screwed with whomever he picked.  At least the Floridians might get a glimpse of how Crist would perform as a US Senator.  In a way, this appointment gives the proverbial finger to Rubio.

40, male, Democrat, NC-04

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by: Tarheeman1993 @ Fri Aug 28, 2009 at 18:32:24 PM UTC

Can't see this guy voting anything but the party-line

Otherwise Crist is in 'death by a thousand cuts' territory.

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by: conspiracy @ Fri Aug 28, 2009 at 18:35:13 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Agreed

He may be a Republican, but he's got a set on him to be praising Obama for spending money and picking a seemingly pro-gay appointee to fill out this Senate seat. It's too soon to say how he'll behave in the Senate, but he's starting to look a bit like a maverick, though not as crazy as McSane.

On another note, the Poltico article about this story had a picture of LeMieux and Crist circa 1997. Can anyone explain to me why Crist looks the same he did 12 friggin years ago as he does today?!

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by: Don't Tase Me, Bro! @ Fri Aug 28, 2009 at 18:39:51 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

If he gets that far

I'm not sure this helps him get out the primary.

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by: conspiracy @ Fri Aug 28, 2009 at 18:42:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It doesn't, but he doesn't need help anyway.

The people he loses with this appointment, he'd already lost to Rubio anyway.  Although, a few truly moderate votes by LeMieux and Crist could start losing extra votes from the middle of the GOP.  I'll bet we don't see any really interesting votes out of LeMieux.  

And I bet if we look hard, we'll see the secret earpiece he'll be wearing to call Crist from the Senate floor and receive his instructions.

28, gay guy, Democrat, CA-08

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by: texas dem @ Fri Aug 28, 2009 at 19:44:39 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

what?

You think us queers let ourselves get old and ugly like straight people?  No,no,no, Crist will be the same fabulous orange queen til he's 80

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by: Andrew @ Sat Aug 29, 2009 at 02:06:09 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I"m surprised

I must have seen ten names mentioned including several who turned Crist down and LeMieux was not one of them.  Not Bill Young, not Diaz-Balart, not Clay Shaw, not one of the current US Representatives (some would be rivals).  Not a blast from the past that makes you ask is he/she still alive (Claude Kirk and Paula Hawkins are both still alive according to Wikipedia).  Not some looney toon designed to appeal to "the base" for a year and siphon votes from Rubio.

I wonder about Rubio.  Tom Feeney who had a similar profile was not such a hot retail politician.  McCollum is bad at the state wide level.  I suspect that Rubio would be toast.

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by: David Kowalski @ Fri Aug 28, 2009 at 19:00:02 PM UTC

Y'all are barking up the right trees

The Anticrist did not help himself against Rubio.

1) Picking a pro-gay rights crony alienates social cons and breathes more life into rumors.

2) Picking a guy heavily involved with the Seminole gambling deal alienates both fundies in interior counties who object on moral grounds and the country clubbers on the coasts who dislike gambling on more aesthetic grounds.

3) Picking a crony and wheeler dealer insider runs counter to the populist rage in the base reinforcing the notion that Charlie is just another of the straw-in-the-wind, no-core-values twits who already cost the GOP the House, Senate and White House.

4)Frenchie being a warming believer and apt to support cap and trade will likely hang a vote and already is a reminder that Chuckles has positions opposed by an overwhelming majority of his primary electorate.

5)Frenchie played a big role in ramrodding constitutional loopholes to allow counties to get around spending restrictions, effectively gutting anti-tax and spending initiatives passed in GOP counties.

Just a mind-blowingly stupid pick. Going to PO social cons, econ cons and country clubbers. The only folks pleased will be the CofC lobbyists in Tallahassee who can pick up some easy money lobbying Frenchie in DC.

Says a lot that Crist, even when picking a placeholder, looks for someone who could never pose a challenge down the line. A cipher, a hack who couldn't even win a Fl House election ten years ago is now a US Senator based on his superemely effective job of pressing his lips to The Anticrist's buttocks and smooching.

So insecure (and probably justly so) he jabbed a thumb in the right's eye needlessly rather than hand someone who could possibly win some race down the line some temp work or give some fading star a nice late-life CV entry.

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by: pinhickwv @ Fri Aug 28, 2009 at 19:07:28 PM UTC

Antichrist?

Who is calling Crist "The Anticrist"? Is that a nickname some wildly right-wing folks have given him, or is that your personal nickname for him? Either way, it seems kind of dumb to me, no offense.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  

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by: Pan @ Sat Aug 29, 2009 at 02:50:11 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Surprised he didn't pick an old fossil like Clay Shaw

While the selection of Ted Kaufman to fill Vice President Biden's vacant seat was unexpected, I think it makes more sense than George LeMieux's appointment as Kaufman had a wealth of experience with the legislative process as he had served as Biden's chief of staff. LeMieux has never served as a legislator and all his experience is with state politics.  

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by: NCDem @ Fri Aug 28, 2009 at 21:32:17 PM UTC

It has a stench of arrogance about it

Like he is outraising and outpolling Rubio and that won't change. I think he has hurt himself more than he had to.

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by: conspiracy @ Fri Aug 28, 2009 at 21:38:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

And Beau isn't likely to have any sort of primary

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by: conspiracy @ Fri Aug 28, 2009 at 21:41:21 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's important to make the distinction

Like Sen. Kaufman, George LeMieux has never held elective office. But unlike Kaufman, LeMieux has very little experience with the legislative process.  

Kaufman was Biden's chief of staff for years and years, and then he served on the federal Board of Broadcasting Governors for years and years in his own right.

LeMieux doesn't have the legislative experience or the federal government experience Kaufman had. His experience is all in the state government, and all in the executive branch (Governor's Chief of Staff, Deputy Attorney General, etc.).  No doubt he has an illustrious law career in his own right, and kudos to him for arguing before the US Supreme Court. But ultimately that's not something that inherently qualifies someone for an appointment to the Senate.

Gov. Crist is just appointing a seatwarmer who'll vote like him. Everyone knows it. It's no surprise that he's taking a beating from Rubio, Meek, and the St. Petersburg Times for picking LeMieux.  

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by: NJCentrist @ Sat Aug 29, 2009 at 19:41:27 PM UTC

[ Parent ]