Well, that was quick.
With Charlie Crist making his announcement on Monday that he's running for the Democratic nomination to challenge Gov. Rick Scott in 2014, the Florida GOPers have gone all in on bringing the man down before things can even get started.
Yup, the Republican Party of Florida has released its first attack ad against Crist.
And, shockingly enough, it's all about Charlie's flip-flopping ways.
The ad quotes Democratic stalwarts, such as Al Gore (Internet Inventor!) and Alex Sink (meh), and Democratic Chairman Karen Thurman (chair!), all expounding on Crist's flippy flops.
The ad is showing a bit of Scott's hand and how he plans on talking up job creation as a major talking point, quoting Thurman as saying of Charlie: "[Crist] has done nothing to create jobs... his only core belief is personal ambition."
Oh. SNAP.
Of course, every politician's core belief is personal ambition. But, the "jobs creator" thing in the ad echoes Marco Rubio's statement on Crist's announcement:
"Floridians have a clear choice between a governor with a proven record of job creation, and a consummate political opportunist that can't be trusted," Rubio said. "Charlie Crist's governorship was underwhelming to say the least. Rick Scott has proven himself very capable of cleaning up after Charlie's mess, creating jobs, and restoring Floridians' hope about the future."
Governor of Louisiana and the Chairman of the Republican Governors Association, Bobby Jindal also chimed in on the jobby-jobs front:
"Under Crist, Florida lost over 800,000 jobs, saw their unemployment rate surge from 3.5 percent to 11.1 percent, and experienced a budgetary crisis that left the state sinking faster and faster. And when the going got tough, Charlie dropped his rifle, abandoned his post, and ran away from the people of Florida. If you like losing jobs and are looking for a politician who blows with the wind, Charlie Crist is your guy. Senator Marco Rubio said it best: 'I don't know of anyone who in over a decade has run as a Republican, an Independent and a Democrat. He's running out of parties."
Florida's Senate President Don Gaetz also sent out a release, taking down Crist's ol' switch-a-roo:
"I respect, even honor opponents who stand by their principles. I cannot respect an opponent who has no principles and therefore no honor."
Sick burn, bros.
And so, in a set of talking points and a thirty second ad, we already see which way the GOP is going to go in trying to take down Crist.
Buckle up everybody. It's gonna be a crazy ride.
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