Crist's Admirable Stim Support Makes 2012 Prez Run Unlikely

The economic stimulus is likely to be one of the defining actions of President Obama's first term. If it's perceived to be successful by November 2012, we're more than likely looking at four more years. But if, even as Obama himself admitted last week in Fort Myers, it's not, we might just have ourselves a new resident at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

So perhaps that's one of the reasons so many would-be 2012 Republican candidates are coming out hard against the stim. People such as Newt Gingrich and Gov. Bobby Jindal. If this thing is a horror, they'll look almost prescient, even if they're not necessarily serving up suggestions for anything that would work better. So a Republican who supported the stimulus, such as Crist, doesn't have much chance of winning the Republican primary, let alone the general election.

If the stimulus is a soaring success (and really, for all our sakes, we hope it is), Obama stays put. Maybe Crist has a better chance of capturing the Republican nomination, but that would be a race for a guaranteed loser, because Obama would be a national hero. We doubt he'd run under those circumstances anyway.

And maybe that's what's so admirable about Crist sometimes.
Sure, he's a politician, and a Republican one to boot, but not everything he does is underscored with blind ideology and political calculations. Not all the time, but often, he really does do what he thinks is right and what the people want. Maybe that's political calculating its own right, but at least it's a refreshing break from the current national Republican brand.

Awww, we're getting all sentimental about Charlie here. Remembering the good times when he extended voting hours, tried to save the Everglades, vetoed education budget cuts, and didn't appoint some Bush lackey to the state supreme court. It makes us feel strange. *Insert gay joke here.* There we go -- all better.