Crist's Record Elicits Conservative Grumbles
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By WILLIAM MARCH The Tampa Tribune
Published: Apr 22, 2007
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TAMPA - After three months in office, Republican Gov. Charlie Crist has earned praise from surprising quarters - Democrats, environmentalists and even The Nation, which bills itself as America's leading journal of liberal political opinion.
Some conservatives, however, are starting to grumble about the record that earned Crist that praise, from advocating state action against global warming to restoring civil rights for felons.
Though he ran promising to maintain the legacy of former Gov. Jeb Bush, a hero to the conservative wing of the party, critics say Crist is chipping away at that legacy.
The grumbling so far is muted - only a few grass-roots-level party activists talk openly about it.
Party leaders and big-name conservative activists for the most part are positive or say they're withholding judgment.
But there are hints that Crist may have trouble continuing to please both sides, as he has managed to do so far while building unprecedented levels of public approval in polls.
If the grumbling leads to a conservative rebellion against Crist, it could hamper his ability to move his legislative agenda and continue the bipartisan tone he has established in Tallahassee.
"He has been more moderate than many of his supporters felt he would be, including me," said Stanley Tate, a Miami businessman and longtime GOP fundraiser, who said he considers himself moderate and is very happy with Crist.
"The moderates in the Republican Party all give him good marks," Tate said, "but the conservatives do not."
Litmus Test Is Taxes
Some conservatives will make up their minds about Crist largely on financial issues, including property tax reform.
Prominent fiscal conservative activist L. Charles Hilton of Panama City said he has "mixed emotions" about Crist's record, but if the governor manages to hold down spending and cut taxes, "I'll dance at his wedding."
Property tax-cutting plans are being debated in the Legislature, and one is expected to pass before the session ends May 4.
Social and religious conservatives, meanwhile, also are wary.
But weeks into his tenure, Crist handed them a victory when he proposed a state-funded stem cell research initiative that didn't include embryonic stem cells, although he had advocated that in his campaign.
Religious conservative activist John Stemberger of Orlando said he is unconcerned about the perception that Crist is moving the GOP to the center, "as long as he continues to govern from the right of center."
"So far he's done a good job on economic issues, and the biggest thing that impressed me: his stem cell decision," Stemberger said.
The conservative gripes against Crist broke into the open in early April over restoration of civil rights for felons who have completed their sentences and paid restitution.
Crist, who calls himself a civil rights leader and, for a Republican, has built unprecedented bridges to black civil rights activists, advocated making the restoration automatic.
Crist forged a compromise supported by two other state Cabinet members including Alex Sink, a Democrat, but opposed by Attorney General Bill McCollum, a favorite of conservative Republicans.
"I think it's a very liberal thing we did today," McCollum said after voting against the move.
The change brought Crist national attention, including a favorable mention in The Nation, and criticism from conservative columnist Robert Novak.
McCollum was one of several Republican and conservative leaders statewide who declined to be interviewed on the subject of Crist's relationship with the conservative side of the GOP.
But he made his views clear by sending a news release opposing the move, including with it a letter from an antidrug group led by Betty Sembler of St. Petersburg.
The Sembler family - including Betty Sembler's husband, Mel, a leading nationwide GOP fundraiser - long have been financial mainstays for Crist's political career. Her son, Brent, was finance chairman for Crist's campaign.
Betty Sembler didn't return calls to discuss the letter. Brent Sembler said that although his family members are close, they don't agree on everything, and on this issue he agrees with Crist.
"In the state of Florida, people got used to Jeb Bush and that conservative philosophy," Sembler said. "Charlie Crist is not Jeb Bush."
A Streak Of Independence
In three months on the job, Crist has acted on issues beyond restoring rights and global warming that also won him praise from liberals, worried conservatives, and seemed to undercut the Jeb Bush legacy:
•Bush appointees. Revoking appointments made by Bush and, in some cases, replacing them. Among them was removing former state Rep. Ken Littlefield, a religious conservative business advocate, from the state Public Service Commission and replacing him with Sen. Nancy Argenziano, known as a consumer advocate.
•Gay marriage. Announcing that he doesn't want the Republican Party to continue funding a constitutional amendment petition drive to ban gay marriage. Republicans had hoped having the initiative on the ballot would spur GOP voter turnout.
•Butterworth appointment. Naming a prominent Democrat, former Attorney General Bob Butterworth, as head of the Department of Children & Families.
•Wetlands regulation. Saying he would veto a bill to strip local governments of the authority to regulate destruction of wetlands by developers - a measure strongly favored by developers.
•Parkway foe. Opposing the Heartland Parkway, a proposed highway also favored by developers.
•Voting machines. Joining with U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, a liberal Boca Raton Democrat, to advocate new voting machines that include a paper record of votes cast. The touch-screen machines now in use were adopted during the Bush administration as the answer to the problems of the 2000 presidential election.
•Teacher meeting. Meeting in his office with representatives of the state teachers union, an organization scorned by Bush.
•Bonus pay. Advocating a teacher bonus pay plan less dependent on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or FCAT, than the one Bush proposed.
•State song. Advocating a new state song because of what he says are racist overtones in "Old Folks at Home."
Bipartisan Tone
Crist also has established an atmosphere of bipartisanship unseen in Tallahassee during the Bush administration, conferring with and praising Democrats including Sink and Democratic legislative leaders.
Among those who aren't unhappy with that record is Jim Davis, a Tampa Democrat and former congressman who lost to Crist in the governor's race.
"I think he's off to a good start," Davis said. Crist is "trying to respond from what he heard from people around the state."
Among those who are unhappy is Gina Hahn, a state Republican Executive Committee member from conservative Naples.
"I go back far enough to remember when the Republicans had to sit in back of the room, and Democrats weren't bipartisan with Republicans," she said. "It appears the Democrats love Charlie Crist, but I think he's losing some of the Republicans."
Another conservative GOP committee member, Bob Shrader of Lee County, said Republicans perceive House Speaker Marco Rubio as a conservative alternative to Crist and as the person who "is carrying on Jeb Bush's legacy."
Maintaining cohesiveness in his GOP base, including fiscal conservatives and religious conservatives, has been a balancing act for Crist, a fiscal conservative in the tradition of former Sen. Connie Mack.
Stemberger said he agrees with Crist on pocketbook issues, "but moral and social issues define us as a people, and have a greater primacy and importance that transcends the financial issues."
Fiscal conservatives, on the other hand, are more worried about the economic issues. Several said it's too early to make a decision about Crist.
"The governor has made the argument for lower taxes, for less spending, and we're looking forward to seeing how that shakes out," said Robert McClure III, president and chief executive of The James Madison Institute, a conservative Tallahassee think tank with links to Bush.
"The governor ran as the heir to Gov. Bush, and we have no reason to believe that's not going to happen."
Reporter William March can be reached at 259-7761 or
[email protected].
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