Human Events: Crist is RINO of 2009

They don't like his nomination of Jorge LaBarga for state Supreme Court justice.

Figures.

In general, the conservative community is too impulsive in handing out RINO's. Any trace of ideological impurity sends the hounds wailing in the night, and we've seen the inevitable fruit of such dogma: Republicans in Name Only are saying "Fine, we'll become Democrats", and our party is left with southern, white conservatives. Which is fine if you're southern and white, but of concern if you're midwestern, northeastern, northwestern, southwestern, etc., (or have a non-Chip Saltsman skin color).

Having said that, Charlie Crist did drop the ball on the LaBarga nomination. The alternative to LaBarga was Frank Jimenez, a supremely-qualified Hispanic judge, who is also supremely conservative. Unfortunately, Crist bowed to the pressures of the Left and appointed a judge of questionable temperament and uncertain judicial philosophy. This was a chance for Crist to shift the court's balance of power, and anytime a conservative fails to push in that direction, it sends a powerful symbol to the party's base -- you can't count on me for judges. And if there's one thing the conservative base wants, it's conservative judges.

Crist's bid for 2012 will be hurt, especially if LaBarga turns out to be anything less than conservative. But it's important for Republicans to remember a few things. First, Crist is governor of the largest battleground in the country. Second, he's damned popular in that battelground. Third, he's accrued a strongly conservative record as governor -- it's interesting to note how no one notes (here, I'm thinking of Red State and Human Events, primarily) his fight for gun rights, lower taxes, market-driven health reform, and a previously stellar record of supreme court picks. Fourth, just because you think Charlie Crist might be gay doesn't mean he's any less qualified to balance a budget or deploy the military. And he's against gay marriage and adoption, for heaven's sake.

So yes, the LaBarga nomination is troubling, but let's not overreact. That's the surest way to suppress diversity of thought, and in end, you have Republican candidates who have sudden conversions (e.g. Mitt Romney or Rudy) before the primaries, because they know that unless they walk down the line with Red State, they'll have to walk the plank.

Jim Geraghty's got a great post over at the Corner today, essentially making the same point, except in the context of ideological purity tests for the RNC candidates.

....if the deciding factor for the next party chair is which one deviated from conservative orthodoxy the least over the course of their careers, you’re going to have a close fight. Look hard enough, and you can find evidence of any of these candidates straying from the conservative position.