Crist to Attend Mark Penn Fundraiser
The Miami Herald reports on a Democratic fundraiser that Charlie Crist will be attending:
WASHINGTON -- He hugged President Barack Obama at his peril, or so it seemed at the time.
Now, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who left the Republican Party and became an independent to keep his U.S. Senate bid alive, will spend Wednesday night in Washington as the guest of honor at one of the most curious fundraising events of 2010.
The event's hosts aren't Republicans, or independents, but Mark Penn and Nancy Jacobson, a husband-and-wife team of centrist Democrats best known for their ties to former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The Clintons' allegiance is to Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami, one of two Democrats in the Aug. 24 primary in Florida. The other Democrat, Jeff Greene, is a colorful billionaire who made a fortune betting against subprime mortgages. The winner will face Crist and Republican Marco Rubio in November.
Crist, reached Tuesday by phone at the airport in Atlanta on his way to Washington, said he's "very grateful, delighted and very pleased" to take part in an event where donors are invited to give as much as $4,800 each.
Crist also said running as an independent, despite its financial challenges, has been "truly liberating" and that "it's wonderful to be able to just speak your mind and not have to be concerned about what a party might think, but rather what's important to the people."
He was coy about all the juicy details, however: Who reached out to whom about putting this fundraiser together? What other Democrats will be there? Aside from the advice he gets from Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, what sort of courting from which national Democrats is going on behind the scenes?
Does he consider this emerging Democratic support an affirmation of his candidacy or merely hedging on the part of Democrats who don't trust Greene, or don't think Meek or Greene can win, and would rather have Crist in the Senate than the more conservative, "tea party"-backed Rubio?
"The best I can tell you is I just have a lot of friends that are Republicans, Democrats and independents, and some of my Democratic friends were willing to help try to put this together, and Mark and his wife were kind enough to agree to do so," Crist said.
Penn didn't respond to questions about the fundraiser.
