Charlie Crist to G.O.P.: Drop Dead

“Florida was to Americans what America had always been to the rest of the world,” according to Susan Orlean in “The Orchid Thief,” “a fresh, free, unspoiled start.” Fresh, perhaps, for Gov. Charlie Crist, but certainly not unspoiled.

As we all know, the Republican governor has become the first official casualty of the Tea Party movement, declaring Thursday that he will stop seeking his party’s Senate nomination and run as an independent.

“My decision to run for the U.S. Senate as a candidate without party affiliation says more about our nation and our state than it says about me,” Mr. Crist said. “Unfortunately our political system is broken. I think we need a new tone in Washington.” Florida Republicans, however, think they need a new tone closer to home: “Support for Florida Governor Charlie Crist’s U.S. Senate bid has fallen this month to its lowest level yet,” reported Rasmussen on April 12. “Just 28 percent of the state’s likely Republican voters support his candidacy … [with] former state House Speaker Marco Rubio edging up a point from last month to 57 percent, his highest level of support to date.”