Florida GOP women unleash ‘fury’ on Crist

By Kay B. Day

Cindy Graves, President of the Florida Federation of Republican Women, will now lead her organization to support former Speaker of the Florida House Marco Rubio's effort to unseat Gov. Charlie Crist's appointee in the US Senate George LeMieux.In Florida thousands of women belong to local Republican clubs that make up the state organization The Florida Federation of Republican Women. FFRW is led by President Cindy Graves. Meet her once and you will not forget her. For that matter visit any of these clubs and you’ll find a highly informed group of motivated Republicans willing to work hard for their candidates. Graves is informed, dedicated and an organizer extraordinaire. At the moment she is also highly steamed at Gov. Charlie Crist who until Thursday was a Republican.

After Crist jumped ship to run as an independent for the US Senate seat currently occupied by his ally and appointee Sen. George LeMieux (R-Fla.), Graves unloaded him on with an official statement that might turn Crist’s famous smile upside down.

The statement began with, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

To drive home the point, FFRW’s president reminded that the colloquialism is based on lines from a play written by William Congreve in 1697. Noting the play originated from a tale of “injustice and deceit,” Graves said the quote “seems especially appropriate.” That was the nice part.

Fact is Crist did figuratively burn thousands of women in Florida who worked diligently to get him elected. And Graves reminded the governor of that. “The good members of The Florida Federation of Republican Women collectively spent hundreds of thousands of hours rallying voters to elect you in what we hoped would be a successful two-term run as our Republican governor. Since then, Republicans have watched the slow unraveling of the Crist myth occasionally stymied by your affable charm and the heavy-handed tactics of the Greer/Crist PR machine.”

The allusion to ‘Greer’ references the former chair of the Republican Party of Florida Jim Greer who did some figurative burning of his own when it came to the trust Party members placed in him to run the state organization. Greer left and now faces a federal probe over spending issues and other allegations. Crist picked Greer for the top GOP job in Florida.

In her statement Graves proceeded to wallop Crist for an act that preceded the famous hug/Kodak moment with President Barack Obama. It must be noted that hug did go over well with leftwing Democrats.

The first egregious act has been overlooked by corporate media although it seriously diluted the political affection many at the grassroots level once held for Crist.

“It is no secret that the majority of active Republican women leaders did not support John McCain in the Primary. All were stunned and disappointed when you endorsed McCain after having promised to stay neutral. As you know, we later went on to build the largest coalition in the country in support of the McCain/Palin ticket because that's what good Republicans do...What became even more surprising to us later was that you unabashedly ceased to campaign for the ticket in any meaningful way once your bid for the vice presidential slot was captured by Sarah Palin.”

Graves was just getting started. Addressing Crist directly, she wrote, “You continuously ignored conservative principles by appointing liberal judges and causing a scandal over attempts to bully our National Committeewoman into unethically signing a Rule 11 letter so that your campaign could obtain a king's ransom from the National Republican Senatorial Committee.”

Graves called Crist’s defection the “final betrayal.”

After all, it’s not nice to take the people’s money Washington-style and then turn it against them.

After Crist announced his GOP exit, former Speaker of the Florida House Marco Rubio enjoyed additional national media courtship. On Thursday Rubio did Fox News’ Hannity and later that evening appeared on Nightline on what many conservatives view as the nation’s most liberal network, ABC. Rubio was lined up for Friday’s NBC Today show.

I watched Nightline and Rubio demonstrated exceptional skill in dealing with media. Unlike many old guard Republicans, Rubio is completely at ease, does not back down and articulates his thoughts even when unexpected questions are asked. I also noted he adjusted earlier statements about Arizona’s alien law by acknowledging the people in that hard-pressed border state are “scared.” Earlier this week a reporter asked Rubio about the law and his answer was diplomatic but not specific. I don’t think he had read the bill that is modeled after an existing federal statute. It had just been passed.

Laws having to do with aliens are not being enforced at the federal level unlike other countries such as Mexico where an individual can be stopped and asked to produce papers simply because his or her skin is white or black—in other words, if you don’t look Mexican, you can be asked to produce your papers on the spot by a policeman.

Rubio has said all along he favors legal immigration. He is one of the few in the land that makes that useful distinction. I am addressing his comments here because of an onslaught of mail and phone calls from those I’ve urged to vote for Rubio because of his pledge for small government and the free market.

Besides all that Rubio is not afraid to note America’s exceptional stature and he knows better than most because his parents came to America as immigrants from Cuba. On Nightline, Rubio told the reporter he always viewed himself simply as an American although his name ended with a vowel.

Graves’ statement should not be taken lightly. She oversees an organization that is a well-run political grassroots influencer. I spoke at the annual meeting of FFRW in Tallahassee and these women are fired up, informed and determined to work hard for candidates who adhere to core values in the GOP tradition. These thousands of women will be knocking on doors and fundraising with a vengeance. At the Tallahassee meeting in March, FFRW welcomed a record crowd. The room was packed with wildly enthusiastic volunteers with a single focus, getting Republicans elected and turning out the looters in Washington.

Crist’s Party abdication did indeed stoke fury in thousands of Republican women in the Sunshine State. His “final betrayal” will linger long after the votes are cast in November. 'Fury' just might be too kind a word.

Lenny Curry, popular chairman of the Duval County Republican Party, didn't mince words with his statement about Crist opting out of the Party either. Curry said, "The mighty grassroots machine of Duval County will work on our stated mission as we never have before."

Crist's rejection, based on a refusal to accept an anticipated honorable defeat in the GOP Primary in August, is Rubio's definite gain. It would be fitting if national Republican leaders vocally directed their support to Rubio now.