So, for those that don't know/remember, Charlie Crist was the last republican governor in Florida who decided to run for senate instead of running for re-election.  He ran into problems in the republican primary in the form of Marco Rubio.  When it became clear that it was going to lose the primary to Rubio, he dropped out of the primary and ran as an independent and ultimately lost to Rubio in the general.  

Now, this former republican governor has decided to run for governor again, but as a democrat.  This guy has to have absolutely no core beliefs, he has flipped from a conservative republican governor just 4 years ago to a democratic candidate for governor.  How can the people in Florida take him seriously?  He is way ahead in preliminary polls.  Honestly, that may be more of a statement about their current governor than Crist, but there has to be a better democrat to run than Crist, isn't there?  What do you guys think?  Do you believe Charlie Crist is now a true believing democrat?   or just a political oppurtunist?  

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/11/04/take-two-in-florida-for-crist-now-a-democrat/

Or perhaps because the Republican party has completely gone off the rails in the past 4 years from the perspective of moderate republicans, and that the GOP's name is mud everywhere but ultra-red states at the moment.

Edit: And New Jersey. Love him or hate him, Christie knows what he's doing.

I agree that the republican party has gone off the rails.  They really have no real strategy on how to deal with things other than just saying the democrats are doing it wrong.  Plus the whole anti abortion and gay marriage argument is becoming more and more damaging to them as public opinion shifts.  However, there is a huge amount of policy reversals and idealogical change going on with Crist.  

As far as Christie, I really like Christie, I sure hope he runs for president and gets the nod.  He could actually bring some good change back to the republican party by bringing it back to the center instead of the party forcing him away from the center.  I don't think Christie is the type to budge on things he doesn't agree with It would be an interesting match up with clinton.  It would go from a presidentital race in which I hated both major party candidates to a race in which I liked both major party candidates.  

I believe I made a thread after Romney got the nom predicting that match up... I think I'm going to go look that up

I wouldnt back either. Real assbuckets.

Eh, happens pretty often really. Virgil Good went Democrat to Republican. Arlen Spector went back from Republican to Democrat. (After being doing the opposite like 50 years before.)

Yeah, but arlen spector was basically kicked out of office because of it.  Democrats didnt trust him enough and he didnt get past the primary.  Crist and spector are pretty much the same thing.  The political party they belong to has more to do with the best path to winning then what their policies are...

Party =/= ideology. In much of U.S history both parties had all ideological groups. It is only until recently that parties stratified based on strict ideology (there was always a tendency for one ideology over another, of course.)

americans vote in american elections, if that answers your question.

or the establisment republicans or more accurately democrats lite, dont want their crony gig in washington to be threatened so they have been intentionally undermining campaign of constitutionalists/conservatives/tea party/ libertarians what have you.

the republican party has nominated 2 liberals for presidency in the past 8 years, how'd that work out.

the only thing about the republican party that has gone of the rails, is that the "establisment" are republicans in name only, and by any other name are liberal democrats.

the only thing that seperates the republican party and the dems, are that the dems are out right communist, who largely admit to it to, and accept rewards from socialists parties, and socialists actually holding competative primary challenges against democrats.

democrats and socialists is a distinction without a difference.