Can Charlie Crist Be Trusted?

"I was a Republican because I thought that those were the people who best supported markets. I think that is not true anymore. I was a Republican at a time when I felt like there was a problem that the markets were under a lot more strain. It worried me whether or not the government played too activist a role." Can you guess who said that? Hint: think of the 5 most brilliant progressives in Congress. still not? Narrow it down to 3 then. Bernie Sanders is from Brooklyn and Alan Grayson is from the Bronx. They came from Democratic households. So that leaves someone who was born in Oklahoma and then lived in Texas. Yes, Elizabeth Warren used to vote Republican. Now look at how she's grown!

Why bring this up? This cycle we've come across two progressive Democrats, Jason Thigpen in North Carolina and Michael Cole in Texas-- the former challenging Walter Jones and the latter Steve Stockman-- who are recent converts to the Democratic Party. At those links above each explains how they decided they're Democrats. I spoken with both guys and they passed my smell test. But does Charlie Crist?

I've never spoken to him and from what I've read, I'm afraid he doesn't. He seems more like a careerist and opportunist than someone who has embraced Democratic values and ideals-- something like his pal, Patrick Murphy, who was elected as a Democrat but who votes with Republicans. This week, the Florida Press Association talked with Crist about his party switch, although not his opportunism. It was basically another opportunity for Crist to further his career ambitions.

“I don’t think people prize party participation much at all in our society today," he said. "I think they are fed up with it to be honest with you… I didn’t leave them, they left me. When I saw the leadership of the Republican Party going in the opposite direction of that to be true to my core beliefs and to be trustworthy to myself and to be able to look in the mirror, I had to get out of there. Changing parties is why you should trust me more than anything.”

However, Crist’s shift away from the Republican Party was a move of necessity.

Facing likely defeat by then-Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio in the 2010 Republican Senate primary, Crist became an independent.

“I’m just more comfortable being a Democrat,” Crist said. “They seem to be much more compassionate, much more tolerant, much more welcoming.”

Asked why not stay a Republican and just take a more progressive position, Crist said, "I don’t think there are many of those left."

"The leadership of the Republican Party, I think, went in such a rigid direction of intolerance, I couldn’t stay there anymore," he said.

So far, voters seem to be unsure about whether Crist deserves the benefit of the doubt-- and Republicans have already begun running ads casting Crist as a political opportunist and an unreliable governor.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Nov. 21 shows Crist with a seven-point lead over Republican Gov. Rick Scott-- down from a ten-point lead in June.

But Scott’s approval rating also dropped from 43 percent to 42 percent in the months since Quinnipiac’s June survey.

Neither Scott nor Crist seemed to have the market cornered on trustworthiness. When asked whether Crist is “honest and trustworthy,” 40 percent of respondents said yes, 42 percent said no. Scott’s numbers were worse, with 38 percent of respondents saying the current governor was “honest and  trustworthy” and 49 percent saying he was not.

…“I’m just going to be Charlie Crist. I am who I am,” he said. “And Floridians fortunately know what I’m about and what I believe in and what I think is important and what I think is important is them.”

If Crist wins the Democratic primary against poorly-funded Nan Rich, Florida is stuck with one thing that is clear-- a choice between the lesser of two evils. Have you ever met a closet case worthy of your trust?