More on Florida � The Quick and the Ed

More on Florida � The Quick and the Ed

More on Florida

by Kris Amundson

Governor Charlie Crist’s decision to veto the controversial SB 6 yesterday has was certainly the biggest education story yesterday. Although Crist seems to have talked about the reasons for the veto with anyone who asked (and even posted his veto message on Facebook), there’s still a lot of speculation about his motives.
Here are a few thoughts on the day after:
Was it a complete coincidence that veto occurred on the same day the AP ran a story headlined, “Is Jeb Bush Still in Charge in the Capitol?” No Governor/Senate candidate can afford to ignore that kind of public dissing. (And Crist made it clear he hadn’t, pointedly noting that he had a voicemail message from Bush, who “encouraged me to sign the bill,” Crist said. “Shocking.”)
It may also have been a very smart political move (although Eduwonk clearly disagrees with me on that). The latest Quinnipiac poll shows Crist getting clobbered in the Republican primary. His Republican opponent Marco Rubio is winning the horse race (“If the election were held today”) question 56 – 33, but there are several other things in the analysis that are much more telling:
- By 54 – 30, Republican voters trust that Rubio will “do in office what he promises in the campaign” once he’s