Jon Chait reports that he has "a soft spot for bluntly transactional politicians," and thus appreciates the "real guts" of former Republican, now Independent Florida Gov.Charlie Crist, who is running for Senate and is scrambling to attract Democratic voters after an ill-advised trip through the Republican primary failed to net him much GOP support. He's having some success, according to this recent poll.
While I suppose we should read this with all the intentional sarcastic, ha-ha political cynicism, I don't recall Chait congratulating his erstwhile Republican hero, John McCain, for the courage of his recent political maneuverings. McCain, of course, is plunging to the hard right as he faces a tough conservative primary challenge in Arizona. Chait always appreciated McCain's heterodoxy on a variety of issues, but now that the Arizona Republican is off in the realm of transactional politics, he's become ludicrous: "McCain decided to seek the 2008 GOP nomination and has been fervently abandoning every element of his heterodoxy, to the point of outright comedy, such as denying that he ever considered himself a maverick."
McCain's ideological journey has been both dismaying and the opposite of courageous. So why laud Crist's antics? It's almost as if Chait looks forward to seeing another moderate Republican -- and McCain pal, natch -- raise the hopes of moderates and independents, only to dash them as he veers to the right under the pressures of national Republican politics.
On the other hand, Kendrick Meek, the Democratic Senate candidate in Florida, hasn't had much of an ideological journey. He's been a progressive Democrat as a state legislator, as a representative, and now as a Senate candidate. He's not as well known as the others in the race, but he hasn't started spending much money yet, and he's still very much in the running. His consistent political views have even paid off -- particularly his steadfast opposition to offshore drilling -- but it lacks the glamor of McCain's will-he, won't-he ego-to-the-fore politics. Now, that's actually refreshing.
-- Tim Fernholz
