The Republican Civil War

Over the past few weeks there has been a Republican civil war raging in Tallahassee, splitting Florida's GOP into two factions: the Crist "Out-Of-Touch" Republicans and the "Arrogant-Elitist" Republicans.

The Crist Republicans are known for their tone-deaf optimism and out-of-touch, mindless approach to everything. Their governing strategy, which is very similar to George W. Bush's style as President, depends on their belief that policies don't matter as long as you poll everything that you do and every word out of your mouth is straight off the polling. As Steve Bousquet of the St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau recently wrote about Crist:

"Most people require the assistance of controlled substances to achieve the level of euphoria expressed by Gov. Charlie Crist. But the tanned man from St. Petersburg has a way of sugarcoating reality so that everything seems right. Are things not as bad as they seem? Or is Crist living in an alternate reality?"

Then there is the other Republican faction, which includes House Republican Majority Leader Adam Hasner and his minions at the Republican Party of Florida. Defined by their elitism and arrogance, they continue to show us that Republicans have no respect for Florida's voters.

They clearly must understand that after a decade of Republicans ruling Tallahassee, their policies have led Florida off a cliff. Now they are acting as if they are the minority party trying to saddle all of Florida's problems on the Democrats. Their entire strategy depends on people across the Sunshine State not understanding that while Democrats have brought change to Washington, Republicans are still ruling Tallahassee. The arrogant-elitist Republicans hope that their devious schemes for Florida's public education system have failed Florida's children so badly that people don't understand the basic structure of our federalist system of government.

While the Out-of-Touch Republicans and the Arrogant-Elitist GOPers are at war with each other, both sides of this Republican rift just keep offering more of the same failed polices that got us into this mess.

Democrats have faith in Floridians. We know that people across the Sunshine State understand that Republican failed economic polices have left Florida in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, Republican corruption is festering across Florida, and Republican fiscal mismanagement has left our state with the worst fiscal crisis in the Florida's history.

That is why as Florida Democrats we are fighting for change. Led by CFO Alex Sink, Democrats are fighting against politics as usual in Tallahassee and demanding accountability.

Democrats are organized and energized for the 2010 elections so we can elect more Democrats to bring change to Florida. Democrats want to change Tallahassee so we can jumpstart Florida's economy and create jobs. Democrats will change Florida to clean up the rampant Republican corruption festering across our state. Democrats are working for change so we can end the Republican waste, fraud and abuse in government and balance the budget without hurting Florida's working families.

By bringing change to Florida, Democrats will build a true partnership with President Obama, so we can ensure that Floridians are safe, that Florida's children can visit a doctor when they are sick, and that our schools can prepare students for the challenges of tomorrow.