As both partisanship in Congress increases, and voter identification with political parties wanes - Crist's line of attack here makes some sense. Political scientists tend to discuss political parties, much like the media and other interest groups, in that each are links between government and the electorate. They can mobilize the citizenry to establish policy preferences, and serve to communicate between the government and electorate. They are also quite useful for to recruit candidates and support compliant representatives (we think of this as "mobilization"). In this capacity they serve both an organizational component, and a financial one. And parties are quite useful in crafting messages and helping to establish an agenda (we think of this as "communication").
Parties today, however, have become somewhat less important (although not really "not important"). Overall, the communication role can also be filled by television, and the mobilization role can be filled by interest groups. The questions for Governor Crist - can he use his cash on hand and fundraising skill to use television effectively? And will the teachers and the Seminole Tribe be effective at mobilization? Filling his staff with skilled professionals and continuing his fundraising are questionable.
