Just as the Republican National Convention is about to open in Tampa, Florida, former Governor Charlie Crist, who came close to being the Vice Presidential running mate of Senator John McCain in 2008, but instead went on to repudiation in the Senate election of 2010, where he ran as an Independent, has made significant news worthy of attention.
Crist has now endorsed Barack Obama for President in an editorial in the Tampa Bay Times, and has blasted his former party for ignoring the effects of the right wing Tea Party and social conservatives on the elderly, women, minorities, immigrants, and students.
Crist said that Barack Obama had shown strong leadership in a difficult time, and that he deserved reelection for the steps he had taken which made things better than when he walked into the Oval Office at a time when the situation was dire.
Some wonder whether Crist will become a Democrat, but many think he will remain an Independent, who might run for Governor again in 2014. Others think he will simply be a voice of reason outside the political sphere, something that the nation could use to remind us of what used to be the Republican Party of years ago.