Charlie is right, he's not a "Jeb Bush Republican"

Cubachi at Hot Air:

Former “Jeb Bush Republican”: Rubio is a Jeb Bush Republican

Afterward, Crist was asked about his former “Jeb Bush Republican” self-description.

“Yeah, well, that’s changed,” Crist said. “I think Jeb and I both agree on that. I’m not even a Republican.”

Crist said the GOP has “gone hard right … it’s evolved rapidly over the past year and a half.”

That’s after Bush left office. Does Crist think Bush is part of the GOP’s “hard right” shift?

“I don’t know,” Crist said. “I don’t talk to him.”

I think that we will all agree that Republicans come in many different flavors. A “Jeb Bush Republican” certainly varies from a “Jim DeMint Republican” who varies from a “Chris Christie Republican” but all three are “Republican”. My question to Crist would be, “How has Jeb Bush changed?” I am not aware of any position that Jeb held during his eight years as my governor that is different today. For Crist to claim that he is no longer a “Jeb Bush Republican” while simultaneously claiming that he doesn’t know what a “Jeb Bush Republican” is just a little dishonest.

Prior to jumping ship Crist had the full throttle backing of the NRSC and all the members of the “Republicans who Matter” club. It wasn’t enough. Crist never had a chance to win the Republican primary. But like a child who was raised to believe that everyone wins a trophy Charlie never learned to accept that sometimes you lose. Like Specter before him and Murkowski after him, it was never about supporting the party and certainly not about supporting Republican Party principals. And the party hasn’t changed at all. It is just that we, the party hoi polloi, are no longer willing to support politicians who do not support that party platform and unlike the NRSC, NRCC, et al, we don’t believe that we owe any particular politician a job.

On the other hand, Crist has changed many of his positions depending on his audience. He is no longer pro-life, unless he is. He is no longer anti-ObamaCare, unless he is or isn’t or well, who can keep up? No, Crist isn’t a “Jeb Bush Republican”. He never was.