Fmer.GOP Gov.and Now Outed Attorney Gen. Charlie Crist Endorses The President

Charlie Crist, the former Florida governor and a prominent national Republican, has broken GOP ranks and endorsed Barack Obama for re-election to the U.S. presidency.

The 56-year-old Crist, who served as the Sunshine State's governor from 2007 to 2011, made his selection in a controversial Tampa Bay Times op-ed piece that ran in the paper's pages on Sunday.

'I’ve studied, admired and gotten to know a lot of leaders in my life,' wrote Crist, who also served as the state's attorney general from 2003 to 2007. 

'I've watched the failure of those who favor extreme rhetoric over sensible compromise, and I've seen how those who never lose sight of solutions sow the greatest successes. 

'As America prepares to pick our president for the next four years... I'm confident that President Barack Obama is the right leader for our state and the nation.'

Later, Crist hinted at a possible explanation for his motivation in endorsing Obama, slamming what he sees as the extremist  platform of the GOP's far right.

Not His First Rodeo: Although hardly a leftist GOP'er, Crist is no stranger to getting in hot water for his support of the President. This 2010 photo, many have said, cost him that year's Florida Senate race

'As Republicans gather in Tampa ... Americans can expect to hear tales of how President Obama has failed to work with their party or turn the economy around. 

 But an element of their party has pitched so far to the extreme right on issues important to women, immigrants, seniors and students that they've proven incapable of governing for the people.

'The truth is that the party has failed to demonstrate the       ' kind of leadership or seriousness voters deserve.'

Crist was immediately and sounded slammed by his home state's Republican party, which is hosting the national GOP nominating convention, beginning Tuesday, in Tampa. 

"While the people of Florida...are facing an emergency, Charlie Crist has demonstrated, yet again, that his political ambition will always come first," Florida Republican Party chair Lenny Curry reportedly said.

Curry was referencing the major hurricane now headed Florida's way.

It's not the first time that Crist has made a sensation supporting Obama. 

Many point to a prior photograph of him hugging the U.S. President as the reason he lost his 2010 run for the U.S. Senate. His bid eventually fell short to Republican and House Speaker Marco Rubio. 

In making his selection, Crist hailed Obama for lifting the country out of the recession of 2008-'09.'The president's response was swift, smart and farsighted,' Crist wrote in his op-ed. 'He knew we had to get people back to work as quickly as possible — but he also knew that the value of a recovery lies
its durability. 'And he knew that happens best by investing in the right places. 

The former Florida Education Commissioner then added, 'President Obama invested in our children's schools because he believes a good education is a necessity, not a luxury, if we're going to create an economy built to last. 

Crist, who served as the Sunshine State's governor from 2007 to 2011, made his antithetical selection in a controversial Tampa Bay Times op-ed piece that ran in the paper's pages on Sunday

'He supported more than 400,000 K-12 teachers' jobs, and he is making college more affordable and making student loans, like the ones he took out, easier to pay back. 

  

Crist even touched what has become the 3rd-rail, so to speak, of the Republican Party, endorsing  what many in his party snidely refer to as, 'Obama Care.'

'The $716 billion in savings his opponents decry today extended the life of the program by nearly a decade and are making sure taxpayer dollars aren't wasted in excessive payments to insurance companies or fraud and abuse,' Crist wrote.

'His opponents would end the Medicare guarantee by creating a voucher that would raise seniors' costs by thousands of dollars and bankrupt the program.'

While Crist is by no means a red-meat Republican, he has taken very conservative and popular party stands on a variety of issues, including gun rights, abortion, and the movement to ban gay marriage

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