March 28, 2024

The Gubernatorial Election of Florida Has Enormous Implications

The gubernatorial election of Florida has enormous implications not only for the Sunshine State but also for the presidential election of 2016 and beyond. In an article written by Mary Ellen Klas published by The Miami Herald on October 26, 2014, she stated that if Crist is governor in 2016, “he would lead Florida as it again becomes a focal point in the presidential elections.”charlie and obama

The reporter explained that Steve Vancore, a Democratic political consultant, believes that if Crist wins fund-raising and the power of the governor will produce “tangible dividends for the expected Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.” Steve Vancore stated the following: “If there is a Democrat in the mansion, you give Hillary a point or a point and a half advantage. And because it is Florida, that is probably the most important point and a half in the country.”

It is well known that no Republican can win the White House unless the Republican presidential candidate wins the 29 electoral votes of Florida. If Crist wins, it will be very difficult for any Republican presidential candidate to win the White House in 2016 and beyond. This is a very important point to keep in mind, as there are some conservative Republican Party and Tea Party members who do not agree with all the positions of Governor Rick Scott. If these conservative individuals stay home, they will seriously damage the future of our nation in 2016. Every conservative in Florida needs to support the reelection of Governor Rick Scott!

Whoever is elected governor in November 2014 will have the power to replace four of seven justices on the Florida Supreme Court. Three of the justices who would be retiring are liberals who were appointed by Lawton Chiles, the last Democratic governor. Therefore, if Governor Rick Scott is reelected, he will appoint conservative judges who are opposed to judicial activism. On the other hand, if Charlie Crist is elected he will do the opposite.

Charlie Crist, imitating his idol President Barack Obama, has already stated that if he is elected governor he will issue executive orders. Crist indicated if the Republican Florida Legislature refuses to implement the laws that he wants, he will run Florida similar on how Obama runs the nation. Crist has already said that he will expand Medicaid to cover more low-income individuals and he will raise the minimum wage. If the Legislature refuses to do this, Crist has said he will do it by executive order.

Therefore, Charlie Crist has stated like Obama, that he will ignore the Republican-controlled Legislature and govern through executive orders as a dictator. This, of course, will violate the Constitution of the state of Florida, as President Barack Obama has violated the United States Constitution from the very beginning that he was elected.
Who is Charlie Crist?

Charles Joseph “Charlie” Crist was born on July 24, 1956. He is an attorney and politician who served as Governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011. Crist began his political career as a conservative Republican. He served in the Florida Senate from 1993 to 1999. Crist ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate in 1998 against Senator Bob Graham and lost to Senator Graham by 26%. He then served as Education Commissioner from 2001 to 2003 and as Florida Attorney General from 2003 to 2007.

When he was in the Florida Senate, Crist was known as a law-and-order senator, sponsoring legislation requiring inmates to serve at least 85% of their sentences before becoming eligible for parole. He supported capital punishment. Crist was a strong supporter of the Second Amendment of the Constitution protecting the ownership of guns and the right to carry a gun.

In 2008, Governor Crist signed a law that prevented employers from prohibiting employees to bring firearms to the workplace, as long as the weapons are secure and individuals maintain a concealed carry license. Governor Crist said that he was pro-life and always had been. In 2008, Crist supported a same-sex marriage ban. He said that traditional families provided the best environment for children. Governor Crist supported the Cuban embargo and did not want the United States to establish diplomatic relations with communist Cuba.

Personal life

In July 1979, Crist married Amanda Morrow and divorced within a year. For the next 28 years Crist remained single. Crist married Carole Rome on December 12, 2008 at the Fist Methodist Church in St. Petersburg. Crist does not have children.

Charlie Crist raised taxes during the Great Recession in 2009

In 2009, Charlie Crist said that Stimulus Funds would prevent tax hikes, but he signed $2.2 billion in new taxes 84 days later. Increasing taxes during a severe economic recession is a terrible idea. During his term as governor, Florida lost tens of thousands of jobs and unemployment increased sharply. The value of homes in the state decreased drastically and many Floridians lost their homes. Poverty increased across the board among Floridians.

Republican Party Chairman Lenny Curry stated the following: “Charlie Crist loves taxes so much he was willing to raise them by $2.2 billion in the middle of an economic downturn, even after promising Floridians that taking federal stimulus funds would prevent tax increases. I’m proud that Rick Scott is righting this wrong by reducing taxes for Florida families, creating an environment where thousands of private-sector jobs have been created.”

Rick Scott eliminated most of CristÂŽs taxes in 2014

Rick_Scott_official_portraitOn March 21, 2014, the Florida Legislature unanimously passed Governor Rick Scott’s rollback of Charlie Crist’s tax hikes. Millions of Florida motorists will soon start paying less to register their cars each year. Governor Scott made the fee rollback a centerpiece of his pitch to legislators to use the state’s current budget surplus to cut taxes and fees by more than $500 million. The vote for the fee rollback was unanimous.

On March 20, 2014, an editorial from The Pensacola News-Journal titled “A Welcome Rebate” stated the following: “We’re grateful Governor Rick Scott sees the value in giving a rebate to his fellow Floridians by reducing vehicle registration fees. Now, we await his signature that will put money back in our pockets 
 While Floridians were forced to pay more in the midst of the recession, we appreciate the governor rewarding that sacrifice since 2009 with a cut in the fees. We also appreciate lawmakers for their efforts to return some money to us.”

Governor Scott said at the time the following: “This is a tax increase that Charlie Crist passed in 2009. A 54 percent increase in motor vehicle fees impacting everyone who had a car. I look forward to getting this on my desk and signing it to reduce the tax that Charlie Crist passed in 2009.”

“If Rick Scott had been governor in 2009 we wouldn’t be here today doing this because we wouldn’t have had to,” said Lieutenant Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera. He added, “Crist has stated the fee increase was never meant to be permanent 
 but there was no phase-out or sunset provision placed on the fees five years ago.”

The 2008 presidential campaign and how Crist betrayed Republican presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney

During the 2008 presidential election, Charlie Crist promised three times to the former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani that he would endorse him for president. He also promised former Governor Mitt Romney that he would stay neutral in the Florida Republican primary for president.

Crist lied to both of them, demonstrating that his word and promises cannot be trusted. This unethical action clearly showed that Charlie Crist lacks values and that he cannot be trusted. When a governor, such as Crist, lies to presidential candidates, other members of the state legislature from both parties will disrespect and distrust him. This would make it very difficult for Charlie Crist to work effectively and compatibly with members of the state legislature or any other elected leader in the federal government. Keeping his word and promises is essential for any politician who has integrity, which Crist obviously does not have.

On January 26, 2008, Crist endorsed Senator John McCain in the Republican primary race, saying, “He’s a great friend and will do a great job for the United States.” McCain later won the Florida primary by 5%. Crist was hoping that Senator McCain would choose him as vice presidential candidate. In retrospect, Senator McCain was very wise in not considering Charlie Crist whose words and deeds make him unreliable for any political office.

I was present, along with other members of the Miami-Dade Republican Executive Committee, including our chairman Nelson Diaz, as well as other Republicans, at Governor Scott’s campaign rally held at Ankarr Pastry Shop in the Kendall area of Miami-Dade County. Lieutenant Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera spoke on how much he has enjoyed working with Governor Scott since he was appointed to that office on January 14, 2014.

Carlos Lopez-Cantera became the first Hispanic ever appointed to that position. He served as Property Appraiser of Miami-Dade County following his election on August 14, 2012. Carlos Lopez-Cantera represented District 113 in the Florida House of Representatives from 2004 to 2012, where he served as the Republican Majority Leader during the final two years of his term. Carlos Lopez-Cantera and Governor Rick Scott make a formidable team which must be reelected by Floridians so that both of them can continue to improve the Sunshine State over the next four years.

State Senator Anitere Flores praised Governor Rick Scott for issuing a rebate to tens of thousands of parents who had paid an increase in the fee of the Prepaid College Tuition Program. She also praised Governor Scott for creating tens of thousands of new jobs and improving the economy.

Anitere Flores is a Republican member of the Florida Senate. She represents the 38th District, which includes almost 500,000 residents who live in Kendall, Westchester, Fontainebleau, and portions of Southwest Miami-Dade County in South Florida. Senator Anitere Flores was sworn in as the State Senator on November 16, 2010. She is the first Republican Hispanic woman to serve in both the Florida House and Senate since 1986.

Javier Manjarres wrote an article titled “Giuliani Calls Out Obama, Says He Disrespects Charlie Crist The Most,” which was published in the website Shark Tank on October 22, 2014. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was campaigning with Florida Governor Rick Scott in Miami, where he told Scott supporters and reporters just how he really felt about Charlie Crist. Rudy Giuliani said that Charlie Crist, the one-time “committed, strong, rightwing Republican, has now become a left wing Democrat.”The reporter explained that Giuliani joked about how he had felt that the old Crist was “more of a conservative Republican” than he was, and that back in the 2007-2008 presidential campaign, Charlie Crist came off as a “fierce opponent of Barack Obama,” as well believing that “Barack Obama was someone that was pretty close to a socialist.”

The former mayor of New York City, known as America’s Mayor, said that even though Crist saw Obama as a socialist six years, he now “loves” him. Giuliani indicated that Charlie Crist promised three times to endorse him for president in 2008 and that he betrayed him by breaking his promise. Giuliani pointed out the following: “This is a man that doesn’t know how to keep his word. I’ve never met a person in politics that I disrespect more than Charlie Crist.”

Former Mayor Giuliani stated that Governor Scott was one of the best governors in the nation. He pointed out how he has created almost 700,000 jobs with his pro-business policies. Giuliani said that Governor Scott ended the deficit and has produced surpluses at the same time that he has supported education and other services needed by Floridians. He has brought efficiency to the government of Florida. Giuliani asked everyone to vote for Governor Rick Scott.

This year Governor Rick Scott increased the state budget for education by $2 billion. This large increase in education funding would help all public schools in the state to achieve educational excellence.

Charlie Crist runs for the Senate in 2010 and loses

Instead of staying in Tallahassee to fix Florida’s economy and fight unemployment, Charlie Crist decided to cut and run to get away from the many problems faced by Floridians. Crist declined to run for reelection as governor in 2010. He decided to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Mel Martinez as a pro-life Republican. After being defeated in the Republican primary by Marco Rubio, instead of supporting Rubio like a loyal Republican would have done, he became an independent in order to run against Rubio in the general election.

Crist quickly removed pro-life statements from his campaign website to appeal to Democrats, the first of many future flip flops. In the general election, he lost to Marco Rubio in a three-way race. Rubio received 49% of the vote, Crist took 30%, and Democratic nominee Kendrick Meek received 20% .

Post-gubernatorial career

On January 7, 2011, it was announced that Crist would join personal-injury law firm Morgan and Morgan in Tampa. After becoming a Democrat on December 7, 2012, Crist reversed all of his previous positions in many issues becoming the biggest flip flopper in the history of U.S. politics. It demonstrated his lack of values and ideology. From being a conservative Republican, Crist became a leftist Democrat.

After having repeatedly denounced Barack Obama as a socialist, he endorsed him for reelection and became a speaker at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Crist wrote a book titled The Party’s Over: How the Extreme Right Hijacked the GOP and I Became a Democrat (2014) . The book details why Crist became a Democrat and left the Republican Party.

The book written by Crist was an attempt to justify how he abandoned all of his principles and conservative ideology that he held for most of his political life. Charlie Crist did not explain the real reasons for abandoning the Republican Party. It was his anger and disappointment about being defeated by Marco Rubio in the Republican primary for the United States Senate in 2010. Crist became very bitter and resentful of Republicans and that was why he left the party that he represented for so many years. He was simply a poor loser!

On November 1, 2013, Crist filed to run for governor as a Democrat. Charlie Crist is running against Republican Governor Rick Scott and Libertarian Adrian Wyllie in the general election of November 2014.

Same-sex marriage

On May 9, 2013, Crist announced that he supports gay marriage. He said, “I most certainly support marriage equality in Florida and look forward to the day it happens here.” For many years Crist said that marriage needed to be between a man and a woman, as it is stated in the Bible.

The contrasting views of Governor Rick Scott and Charlie Crist regarding the U.S. embargo and the restoration of diplomatic relations with communist Cuba
Charlie Crist now wants to lift the embargo against Cuba and normalize diplomatic relations with the oppressive and bloody communist regime. He stated that the embargo has not helped to change the government of Cuba. He had supported the embargo earlier for many years as a Republican and later as an independent.

There is a great difference in the views of Governor Rick Scott and Charlie Crist regarding the policy with Cuba. Governor Scott supports the embargo against Cuba and is completely opposed to recognizing the oppressive communist regime of Cuba diplomatically.

The Cuban communist regime has always been at war with our nation. During the October Missile Crisis of 1962, Fidel Castro told Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev to initiate a surprise nuclear attack against the United States.

The Cuban communist regime has introduced drugs to our nation working with Latin America drug cartels. Members of the secret police and spies from Cuba have stolen billions of dollars from Medicare and that money has gone to enrich the communist leaders of Cuba. The totalitarian regime has successfully placed spies in the Pentagon and the State Department to the detriment of our national security. Cuba recently sent weapons and jet planes to North Korea in violation of the weapons ban passed by the Security Council of the United Nations.

It is very disappointing that President Obama remained silent at this outrageous action of communist Cuba. As for the embargo against Cuba, this was done not to bring a change in the regime. It was done to punish Cuba for confiscating billions of dollars of property that belong to American citizens and corporations and for shooting on the wall Americans without due process of law.

There is no need to reward communist Cuba for its terrible behavior against its own people and many attacks upon our nation over the years. Even today, Cuba represents a national security danger for the United States since it has biological weapons and cyber warfare capability. Cuba and Russia are in negotiations to allow Russians to establish military and naval bases in Cuba, a country that is just 90 miles away from Florida.

Cuba has welcomed Islamic terrorists and trained revolutionaries to attack many Latin American countries. The communist regime has close relations with all of America’s enemies. Cuba sent a large army to Angola to prop up the Marxist regime in that African nation. It has intervened in Ethiopia, Somalia, the Congo, and other African nations.

Three Cubans tortured American pilots captured in North Vietnam, including John McCain. One of them murdered an American pilot. The Cuban torturers were trying to extract information regarding our aircraft carriers and jets from our captured pilots to pass it on to the Soviet Union.

On several occasions the communist regime has allowed thousands of Cubans to leave the country, all at once, to bring havoc to the United States. During the Mariel influx of 1980, among the thousands of decent Cubans arriving in the United States, Fidel Castro emptied his jails of common criminals and drug addicts as well as the insane asylums and sent these people to the United States. This was certainly an act of war which was tolerated by President Jimmy Carter. It was certainly a factor in the defeat of President Carter by Ronald Reagan in November 1980. It also resulted in the defeat of Governor Bill Clinton when he was running for reelection in Arkansas since he had allowed criminals from Cuba to arrive in Little Rock.

It is shameful that Charlie Crist wants to lift the embargo and recognize such a horrendous totalitarian and bloody regime, the worst ever in the Western hemisphere. Charlie Crist even said that he wanted to travel to Cuba. The state of Florida certainly does not need such an individual in Tallahassee.

This issue is of enormous importance for Hispanics born in Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Bolivia. Most of the people from these nations came to the United States because they did not want to live in a communist country.

People from Cuba in particular saw how members of their families and friends were shot on the wall or imprisoned for many years for fighting for freedom. More recently, people from Venezuela have witnessed the assassination of students in the streets of many cities in that nation. The Cuban Occupation Army in Venezuela participated in the shootings and torturing of students in prison.

Venezuelans who voted for President Obama (as well as those who opposed the president) were very upset at his silence while atrocities were being committed by the regime of Nicholas Maduro. Venezuelans were completely disappointed that President Obama refused to impose strong and damaging economic sanctions against the communist officials from their country.

If Barack Obama would have been a strong anti-Communist leader, he would have suspended the importation of oil from Venezuela. This action alone would have ended not only the communist regime in Venezuela, but also the one in Cuba that depends so heavily on the free oil sent by Venezuela.

Barack Obama would have been a hero of all freedom loving people throughout the world. However, such an action would have been unthinkable of Barack Obama, who has been associated since the fifth grade with communists and radicals of all types. After all, Obama is a member of the “Hate the United States Crowd” which included among many others his preacher of more than 20 years, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright of the United Church of Christ in Chicago. Let us always remember that this is the Marxist president that Charlie Crist so strongly supports.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio as well as Republican United States representatives from South Florida asked again and again to punish the Venezuelan communist regime for murdering and torturing students and other freedom-loving Venezuelans. Governor Rick Scott also asked the president to defend the opponents of the communist regime in Venezuela. However, the president ignored those pleas since he likes Marxist presidents such as Nicolas Maduro.

What did Charlie Crist say? He supported President Obama and did not criticize the oppressive and bloody communist regime in Venezuela. Charlie Crist now wants Obama to lift the Cuban embargo. However, this recommendation violates the Constitution.

On February 24, 1996, Fidel and Raul Castro sent a MiG-29 and a MiG-23 to shoot three small planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue while they were flying over international waters of the Straits of Florida. Two planes were shot killing four Cuban-Americans while the third plane was able to escape.

As a result of this horrendous crime, Congress passed the Helms-Burton law which was signed by President Clinton on March 12, 1996. Under this law the embargo against Cuba cannot be lifted nor diplomatic relations restored, unless Cuba has free democratic elections, releases all political prisoners, and respects human rights.

Charlie Crist should not be encouraging President Obama to violate the Constitution one more time by lifting the embargo unilaterally. This is completely irresponsible as the president is acting more and more like a dictator. We do not need a Democratic Party candidate for governor in Florida who is actively encouraging President Obama to destroy the rule of law in our nation.

Barack Obama has violated the Constitution repeatedly from the very beginning that he sealed power in January 2009. We do not need a Florida Governor, such as Charlie Crist, to become a cheerleader and a strong supporter of the president, who has presided over the most criminal administration in our nation’s history.

As the price of oil has drastically come down, the communist regime in Venezuela is experiencing very serious shortages in food and merchandise, including toilet paper. The communist regime in Venezuela has been sending free oil to Cuba for a number of years. This is why the Cuban bloody dictator Raul Castro is desperately seeking an end to the embargo and receive millions of American tourists in the military-owned restaurants and hotels. This is not the time to give oxygen to the tyrannical regime that has oppressed Cuba since 1959. It is shameful for Charlie Crist to be advocating such a position.

On the other hand, Governor Rick Scott, in an interview that was published by El Nuevo Herald on October 22, 2014, said the following: “President Barack Obama would make a mistake if he decides to normalize relations with Cuba. I think this would be a grave error. The Castro brothers constitute a totalitarian regime. They violate human rights. They were responsible for the civil conflict in Venezuela. This is why I think we need to be against the Castro brothers, in favor of keeping the embargo, and on the same side as the Ladies in White and AntĂșnez (dissidents and opponents in Cuba).”
Governor Scott added the following: “Eventually the Castro brothers are going to die. When this happens we should have the Ladies in White and AntĂșnez and other individuals who favor democracy in Cuba at the negotiating table and if we don’t support them now, they won’t be able to be at that table…. They have to have political freedom, they have to liberate Alan Gross, they need to do things that a normal country would do, living in a normal society where you have human rights, political freedom, and where they do not cause instability in another country.”
It is estimated that Hispanics represent 15% of the 11.9 million registered voters in Florida. Almost 40% of Hispanic voters are of Cuban origin. Hispanic voters could make a difference in the gubernatorial election in November.

Conclusion

Freedom loving Hispanics should reject Charlie Crist for his silence over the abuses committed by the communist regime in Venezuela. Crist should also be rejected for advocating lifting the embargo against Cuba unilaterally and restoring relations with the communist country that for 55 years has been assassinating and imprisoning thousands of citizens who want freedom and democracy in that unfortunate island.

All Floridians should vote against Charlie Crist for being the biggest flip flopper in history. He has rejected every single position from abortion, same-sex marriage, support for the Second Amendment, strong on crime prevention and law-and-order, the role of government, and so forth that he held for many years when he was a Republican politician.

Why should Floridians want to give Charlie Crist the position of governor that he abandoned after presiding over the state’s largest unemployment and worst economy since the Great Depression of the 1930s? Would a private company rehire a failed CEO who quit his job when things went badly during his tenure? Of course not.

When Charlie Crist abandoned the Republican Party, becoming an independent and finally a member of the Democratic Party, he demonstrated his lack of values and ideology. From being a conservative Republican, Crist became a leftist Democrat changing his views on all political issues. This clearly shows that Charlie Crist has no integrity and no principles.

Charlie Crist is an opportunist who would say and do whatever he has to win political office. He has no values other than to win elections. After calling President Obama a socialist, now he loves him including Obama Care. Charlie Crist now supports failed domestic and foreign policy advocated by Obama.

Floridians need to reelect Governor Rick Scott and Lieutenant Governor Carlos Lopez-Contreras so that the state can continue to improve economically and create more jobs in the private sector.

Share
Source: