The countdown to Governor Crist's announcement of his intention to run for the Senate seat now occupied by Senator Mel Martinez is at T-2. According to both his former Chief of Staff and the head of the Republican Party, Tuesday, in Tallahassee, Governor Crist will announce his plans.
Charlie Crist ran for the U.S. Senate once before - back in 1998, as a Republican in a Democratic-Presidential midterm election - and was crushed by (incumbent) Bob Graham 62-38. Crist won just four counties, and barely cracked 25% of the vote in three Democratic strongholds of Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade. But Crist's political skills have come a long way since then. For a really interesting read, check out Steve Bosquet's 2006 piece here, and some speculation about how the Governor might do in the 2010 race here.
