Crist Can't Handle The Scrutiny

Today in the St Petersburg Times Steve Bousquet has a column up about the media coverage of Charlie Crist and how it has changed. One line in the column however didn't line up with the rest of it in my opinion.

There has been a clear shift in the mainstream media's portrayal of Crist in the past few months.

I am not sure how I am even supposed to take that line but it seems to infer that the reason why the media coverage of Crist has changed has come from a change in how the media wants to cover him. But consider some of the nuggets included in the column.

A glance at the record suggests things went south in June when Crist signed a bill weakening growth management controls, which editorial boards agreed was a terrible decision.

Things got worse in August after the governor picked his friend and campaign adviser, George LeMieux, to warm the Senate seat Crist covets.

By the columnist's own admission the shift, if in fact their was one, occured over two legislative decisions that Crist made which were both highly unpopular. Its not like editorial boards suddenly decided they didn't like the way Crist combed his hair, his media coverage has taken a hit because he has started running to the right for his primary and running from his own record, as limited as it already is.

Now to be sure some of the criticism of Crist isn't credible, like that of climate change denier George Will, but the overwhelming amount of hits he is taking, especially those here in Florida, are legitimate.

• The Palm Beach Post's Frank Cerabino wrote that it was "embarrassing" to see Crist on TV touting his Cover Florida program and its 4,000 subscribers at a time when nearly 4 million people in Florida have no coverage. "Charlie's Hooey," read the headline.

Is there any Floridian among us who wouldn't agree with that statement? Is there anybody in this state who thinks what we do here should be taken nationally? I sure don't.

But at the end of his column Bousquet actually gets at what we are seeing now with Crist.

Crist used to be able to talk over the heads of the Florida press corps by using softball encounters on cable chat shows to recite his favorite talking points. But this is changing, too.

As he made the rounds on Tuesday, the reception was noticeably frostier (except on the reliably charitable Fox).

CNN's John Roberts juxtaposed Crist's opposition to a government-run national health care program with his support for Florida KidCare, which uses government money to subsidize health care for low-income Floridians.

"Are you trying to have it both ways here?" Roberts asked Crist.

"Well, that's for children. You know, it's a program I inherited," Crist answered.

As it turns out its not that the media has decided to turn on Crist, instead its more that the media has decided to do their job. Now that they have started peeling away the layers they are starting to see there isn't much there. When Crist was "just" a governor it was much easier to paint himself as a moderate. Basically all he had to do, as Bousquet pointed out, was to read the local papers each morning. If he saw a lot of coverage going against any of his decisions he would just change course and keep it moving. That was good for his public appearance, but ultimately bad for the people of Florida. But how many people really even know the impact of a Governor's decisions? I would guess probably not all that many.

Now that he is engaged in a campaign for national office the stakes have changed for Crist. He actually has to try to find a way to be both consistent in his ideology AND loyal to his out of the mainstream base. That means running to the right of his own record, and claiming accomplishments that do not even exist. That means simultaneously promoting a government run healthcare plan that we have here in Florida for kids, while decrying government run healthcare for the nation. It means actually having members of the media asking him tough questions and expecting a straight answer, instead of allowing him to "talk over the heads of the Florida press corps by using softball encounters on cable chat shows to recite his favorite talking points".

The most encouraging thing about this for liberals and progressives in Florida is that Crist hasn't even really had to go full wingnut yet to compete against Marco Rubio in the primary. Once that happens and the bloom is off the rose it will be clear who the best choice for Florida will be. Kendrick Meek will be able to run on a record of consistency working for Florida's families and businesses while Crist will be stuck bobbing and weaving, running away from his record as Governor or Florida. All we have to do is keep peeling away those layers so our fellow Floridians get to see the truth about Crist and who he really is and who he really isn't.