Hotline On Call had a brief chat with Charlie Crist yesterday, and as conversations are want to do these days, things quickly moved to Sarah Palin and her effect on his primary race against Marco Rubio.
.... instead of hitching himself to a rising star in the GOP base, Crist simply noted Palin's apparent lack of interest in the race. Her support "hasn't been offered," he said when asked if he would welcome her backing.
Pressed whether he'd accept the endorsement if Palin offered it, Crist declined to answer, shutting the door of his SUV and driving off.
Earlier this week, Palin told The National Review she was leaning toward getting involved in the race.
"I’m just being asked about it really in the last week or two, so I’ll dig more into it. I’ll find out what the guys are holding in terms of positions and see where maybe I can help.”
UPDATE: AllahPundit on The Hotline interview.
Crist’s coolness to her makes more sense than McCain’s, as Florida’s a bit more purple and he lacks the advantage of incumbency.
But even if he’s worried that a Palin endorsement would spark a backlash in the general election, he could desperately use it in the primary to undermine Rubio’s “true conservative” brand.
I’m amazed he’d react this way — unless he’s already plotting a party switch and wants nothing to do with her.
