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Today's the day, and to mark it, Chris Cillizza conjures up five implications of the Crist Senate bid.
Here are some highlights.
1. A vote for moderation
Should Crist get elected next November, he will immediately surge to the top (or close to it) of the group of moderate Republicans calling for a change in the way the party defines itself.
2. A money saver
.... if Crist is able to beat former state House Speaker Marco Rubio in the Republican primary, the NRSC may be spared from spending any significant cash in the general election as polling suggests the governor would be a prohibitive favorite.
3. The foil fight
Crist's decision to run for the Senate is due, at least in part, to a desire to fight Obama toe to toe in the place -- Washington -- where his agenda will succeed or fail between now and 2012.
Not quite so sure about this one. Is Charlie Crist going to Washington because he wants to fight?
4. Govs running scared
.... the money has run out, forcing chief executives to raise taxes, slash services or both. Crist, faced with a dire budget situation in Florida between now and his 2010 reelection, saw an opportunity to side-step it and took it.
5. The stimulus set-to
Crist's primary against Rubio will serve as a litmus test for how politically potent the stimulus package will be in 2010 and beyond.
On a related note, Josh Kraushaar is reporting that the National Republican Senatorial Committee will endorse Crist.
Is that going to quell conservatives? And all the people said the opposite of "amen" (as yet, an undetermined word).
