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The Hug That Ruined Crist

by Jim DeFede

Charles Dharapak / AP Photo

There have been many pictures taken during Florida road trips that have come back to haunt those on the wrong side of the camera. But not since the 2005 College Spring Break Edition of Girls Gone Wild has anyone in the Sunshine State regretted being photographed more than Florida Governor Charlie Crist does today.

Because it was one year ago—February 10, 2009—that Florida's tan and perpetually sunny chief executive wrapped his arms around the leader of the free world and squeezed him like a Florida orange. Today it is simply known as "the hug." And more than any other picture it has become the iconic image in the U.S. Senate Republican primary battle between Crist and Marco Rubio, the Conservative upstart and Tea Party darling who has gone from barely registering in the polls to enjoying a double-digit lead.

And if indeed Marco Rubio does go on to defeat Crist—an outcome that seemed laughably remote six months ago—the defining moment of the campaign will be that embrace between Crist and President Barack Obama in Fort Meyers.

"It's part of a bigger problem in American politics of people willing to say and do anything to get elected," Rubio said. "And people can see that."

At the time the president was stumping for his $787 billion stimulus plan and since he wasn't finding much Republican support in Washington, he flew to the West Coast of Florida where Crist greeted him with open arms. Both men were at the height of their political popularity.

"We know that it's important that we pass a stimulus package,'' Crist was quoted in press accounts at the time as saying. "This is not about partisan politics. This is about rising above that, helping America and reigniting our economy."

Since that day, Rubio, a Jeb Bush protégé and former Speaker of the Florida House, has done everything he could to keep Crist and Obama in a perpetual state of embrace. His very first attack ad against Crist—launched moments after Crist announced he was running for Senate last May—used one of the hundreds of pictures taken that day. The photograph the Rubio campaign selected showed the president, eyes closed and lips pursed, leaning in toward the governor, mouth slightly agape and wide-eyed with anticipation. As ominous music plays, an announcer warns that, "Today, too many politicians embrace Washington's same old broken ways."

Rubio even launched a website www.charlieandobama.com, which simply showed another picture of the president and the governor leaning in for the hug. The caption: "Get the picture?" The site then offered a link to donate to Rubio's campaign.

To commemorate both the hug and the Crist's support for the stimulus, Rubio has events planned in Fort Meyers, where he will join former House Majority Leader Dick Armey for an address to Armey's FreedomWorks political action committee. In anticipation of today's event, the Rubio campaign started a fundraising drive on February 1, with the goal of collecting $787,000 by today. They have been asking donors to log onto a new website—www.stimulusbomb.com—and donate either $7.87 or $78.70 or even $787. Needless to say, the website features a picture of the hug.

For Rubio, the steady, unrelenting focus on Crist's support for the stimulus has been the key to his rise in the polls, which now show him ahead of the governor anywhere from 3 to 14 points. Crist’s sudden plummet has been so severe it’s sparked speculation that he might run as an independent, or even a Democrat. For his part, the governor has been as dismissive of the latest polling as possible, telling the Miami Herald, "I'm not really concerned about poll numbers. I’m concerned about people. I don’t have the luxury of going around the state and politicking all day. I’m going to do my job.”

But just as important to the rhythm of the race has been Crist's rather bizarre response to the attacks.

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