Archive for the ‘Charlie Crist’ Category

When Congress returns after the election, Saxby Chambliss said the Senate Intelligence Committee will hold a hearing to address the questions that remain unanswered about last month’s deadly attack on a U.S. compound in Libya, from why it took the FBI three weeks to get to Benghazi to the links between the attackers and al-Qaeda.

According to my AJC colleague Daniel Malloy in Washington, Chambliss — the ranking Republican on the committee — was privy to much of the same information that President Barack Obama.

That makes the shifting administration account of what happened all the more disturbing, Chambliss said in a telephone interview this morning.

“He stood up in the Rose Garden [on Sept. 12], and he’d seen some of the same information some of the rest of us had seen that unquestionably called it a terrorist attack,” Chambliss said. The senator argued that Obama’s reference to “acts of terror” – a key point in Tuesday’s presidential debate, likely to surface …

Continue reading Your daily jolt: ‘Al-Qaeda isn’t on the run,’ says Saxby Chambliss »

This from our sister newspaper, the Palm Beach Post:

Oil drilling off the Florida coast is dead for now because of the massive oil leak spreading in the Gulf of Mexico, Gov. Charlie Crist said, renewing his call for clean energy sources.

“This is the resurrection of the clean energy argument. Without a doubt in my view.

You’ve got to have solar. We’ve got to move more rapidly to develop wind, nuclear as well. If this does not make the case that we’ve got to have energy resources that are clean that don’t destruct our environment I don’t know what is. I mean, it’s exactly that,” Crist told reporters after a noon briefing at state emergency operations headquarters.

The newly-independent governor and U.S. Senate candidate called the timing of the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion “pretty extraordinary” given that some GOP leaders, including future House Speaker Dean Cannon and future Senate President Mike Haridopolos, were pushing for offshore drilling throughout …

Continue reading Charlie Crist, the independent, says drilling off Florida coast is dead — for now »

This posted by the New York Times:

Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida faced new pressure today to abandon his campaign to win the state’s Republican nomination for the United States Senate, with the head of the party’s senatorial re-election committee declaring that Mr. Crist has “zero chance” to win.

Rob Jesmer, executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, made the dire prediction in a memo to party officials and fund-raisers in Florida and Washington. The message is the strongest indication yet that Mr. Crist has lost support of the Republican establishment in his race with Marco Rubio, a former state legislative leader whose Senate candidacy has flourished with help from Tea Party supporters.

The newspaper quoted Crist as saying he’s still weighing his options on an independent run. The deadline for that is two weeks away.

For instant updates, follow me on Twitter.

Continue reading Charlie Crist under pressure to leave Senate race in Florida »

In a split 4-to-3 vote, the state Supreme Court has upheld a key portion of tort reform legislation passed in 2005, which holds that emergency rooms can’t be sued without “clear and convincing evidence” of gross negligence.

Lawmakers had been watching the case, and were ready to respond with legislation had the court overturned the law.

The case, Gliemmo v. Cousineau, stemmed from a Muscogee County woman’s visit to St. Francis Hospital in Columbus, after she reported a “snapping in her head.” She was treated for high blood pressure and sent home.

Two days later, her family doctor discovered a brain hemorrhage that left her paralyzed.
The couple had argued that the 2005 tort reform law was unconstitutional because it gave hospital emergency rooms special treatment – protection from lawsuits that other medical providers don’t receive.

MARTA caught Gov. Sonny Perdue in the act on Saturday. Never a big booster of rail during his two terms in office, Perdue was spotted with his …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Georgia Supreme Court upholds lawsuit protection for emergency rooms »

Saxby Chambliss’s office just confirmed that the U.S. senator and Gov. Sonny Perdue will host a March 15 fund-raiser at the Georgian Club for Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.

Crist is locked in a bitter Republican primary with former Florida house speaker Marco Rubio for a U.S. Senate nomination.

Already, Georgia is seeing some spin-offs from the battle.

Rubio has been championed in Georgia by Erick Erickson of Redstate fame and other GOP hardcores. This won’t make them happy.

On the other hand, Crist has been described by many as the most reluctant governor in the tri-state water negotiations. So maybe he and Perdue can use the event to come to an understanding.

For instant updates, follow me on Twitter.

Continue reading Chambliss, Perdue to host fund-raiser for Crist »

With the battle for the New York 23rd over, the Republican argument over who’s a real conservative now shifts to Florida. This just posted by USA Today:

The Club for Growth’s Political Action Committee made it official this morning, endorsing former state lawmaker Mario Rubio in next year’s Senate race. That’s a diss to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who has the backing of top national Republican party leaders as well as the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee in his bid for the seat.

In a statement released this morning, Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said he believes that either Crist or Rubio can beat Rep. Kendrick Meek, a Democratic congressman who’s running for the Senate seat.

“The only question now is what kind of Republican will Florida send to Washington next year: a pro-growth Republican with a record of fiscal conservatism or a big-government Republican with a record of tax increases?” Chocola said.

For instant updates, follow me on …

Continue reading The Republican schism, Part II: Club for Growth endorses Rubio in Florida »

Down in Macon, Erick Erickson of RedState.com has started a Facebook page with the name “Not one penny to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.”

Erickson is furious at support Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is getting out of Washington for his U.S. Senate. Like many conservatives, Erickson’s pushing former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio.

Writes the rightward blogger:

First they supported [Lincoln] Chafee. Then they supported [Arlen] Specter. Now they support Crist. I pledge to give no money, no support, no aid, and no help at all to the efforts of the NRSC.

But backing for Crist extends well into Georgia, in the form Johnny Isakson, himself up for re-election to the U.S. Senate next year.

According to The Hill, a D.C. newspaper and web site, Isakson argues on behalf of the NRSC that:

Crist has twice won statewide races in Florida and has the best chance of keeping the seat — now held by Sen. Mel Martinez — in Republican hands.

“I think leadership made the …

Continue reading Johnny Isakson is backing Charlie Crist in Florida »