A McCain stop in Florida noticably lacks the state's GOP governor, Charlie Crist

Not so long ago, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was a hot prospect as a potential running mate for John McCain.

This past weekend, he was a much-noticed no-show at a rally in his home state featuring the Republican presidential nominee.

Adding insult to injury, Crist blew off the McCain event to go to Disney World -- sparking speculation that he was repeating a pattern from two years ago when, as a gubernatorial candidate, he made a point of distancing himself from the politically challenged President Bush.

That seems a stretch to The Ticket. Although polls in Florida -- like those in most other battleground states -- have shifted of late in Barack Obama's favor, Crist can be expected to forgo similar excursions and kick it back into gear for McCain as this long campaign comes to a close. Carrying Florida is an absolute must for the Arizona senator. And despite what the surveys are showing, Republicans enjoy a number of advantages in the state.

Not the least of these is lingering uneasiness about Obama among older Jewish retirees -- normally a solidly Democratic bloc. Our colleague Mark Silva visited one of the senior citizen communities -- in the memorably named Coconut Creek, Fla. -- where the GOP is trying to make inroads with these voters. His well-worth-reading report on the political wrangling there can be found at the Swamp.

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[Angellight]

Why is McCain being Deceitful about the fact that William Ayers' educational foundation was funded by Republicans, not Democrats, Republicans, who are now endorsing him?

The Annenbergs who are Republicans, Bankrolled William Ayers with $50 million dollars. However, Walter and Leonore Annenberg weren’t just giving money to the educational foundation started by William Ayers, they were also giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Republican National Committee and various other Republican groups, as well as to a whole host of Republican candidates, including the following:

George W. Bush $4000 - Mitt Romney $5000
Strom Thurmond $1000 - Fred Thompson $500
Rick Santorum $3000

There are questions that are not being asked or answered such as --why would billionaire Republican philanthropists give millions of dollars to a program that was started by William Ayers, if he is such a scary figure and unrepentant? Why would George W., Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and all those other Republicans accept money from the people who were funding this William Ayers-associated group? And, why won’t McCain discuss these connections between the Republican Party and Ayers?"

Recently, McCain campaign put out a press release bragging about the fact that Leonore Annenberg has endorsed him for president. The very Leonore Annenberg who bankrolled William Ayers with millions of dollars is now backing McCain!

Lastly, Republican Arnold Weber who served on the board of the CAC with Barack, who worked with William Ayers in the 90’s, has also donated at least $1000 to the McCain campaign. So you see, McCain is accepting money from associates of William Ayers, and so far has not given the money back. Why won't McCain come clean about these facts? Why is he being deceitful about this?

http://www.republicansforobama.org/?q=node/3027

[rob]

Annenbergs owned TV Guide and other publications, and donated their large collection of impressionists, worth 100,000.000 dollars (that figure I think is 15 years old) to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I'm not a Republican but I consider that quite generous of them. This was one of the greatest single public gifts in American history.

I don't doubt a minor figure like the young Obama didn't think twice when asked to serve by the Annenberg, and if there's a vetting fault, I'm afraid I'd lay it at their feet, not his.