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Health & Fitness

Does Charlie Crist Really Want to Be Governor Again?

The question for Crist may be, Does he want to run the State, or is this just a setup for his future political aspirations?

There has been a lot of chatter this week about Charlie Crist running for governor.

A lot of people are making a big deal about Charlie changing parties: Republican to Democrat, with a brief stop as an Independent, for those of you who don't follow politics all that closely.

Although there may be a lot of hype and comment about the party affiliation issue, I have always felt Charlie summed it up best when he said: "I didn't leave the Republican Party, they left me".

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I think his view is fully justified by the cadre of people the Republicans have run for office and those Republicans elected.

The real question for former Gov. Crist: Is he ready to be GOVENOR this time?

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Somewhere during the middle of his second year in the Governor's Mansion, it seemed that Charlie just grew weary of the business side of being governor. Running the State of Florida is hard work. Staff and elected state official loyalty is slim, to say the least. Throw in a cranky Legislature, and it makes for a lot of dismal days.

The really good press days are few and far between, and although Charlie is good at working with people and driving compromise, it just appeared that the steady diet of it got the best of him.

Like Rick Scott or not, you have got to hand it to the guy who now holds the title of being the least popular Governor in the Country, constantly ridiculed by every news organization and political hack in the State. But the guy gets up every day goes to work and tries do what he thinks will work for Florida.

Do we need four more years of Rick Scott? Probably not. There is a point at which people who manage like Rick Scott does become counterproductive.

But just because we boot out Scottand re-elect Charlie Crist doesn't make the State's problems go away.

Charlie will still have the self-serving elected Cabinet members, a cranky Legislature, a fist full of budget issues and some open wounds from the Scott Administration that will need careful attention.

In other words things have not gotten any better since Crist left the Governor's office.

So the job will be just as bad as it was the last time he was governor.

The real question may be, Does Crist really want to run the State, or is this just a setup for his future political aspirations?

Some will say Charlie is setting himself up for a run at the Presidency or Vice Presidency.  Could be. But at this point, even three years of Charlie doing what Charlie does best could go a long way toward getting Florida back on track.

If Scott has any fight left in him, it will be a rough-and-tumble race.

Nobody is better at retail politics than Charlie Crist, but if Charlie's goal is to move up the political food chain, he will have to win decisively against the country's most unpopular Governor, because a loss could be the end of Charlie's political career.

e-mail Doc at: dr.webb@verizon.net, or send me a Facebook Friend request.

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