RPOF Loyality Oath

The Republican Party of Florida is making members take a loyality oath. No member is allowed to support the independent candidacy of Charlie Crist. This idea comes from new Chairman John Thrasher. I am the last person to tell Florida Republicans how to run their party. I will say that I am enjoying the party moving so far right that it is pushing moderates out. Former RPoF chairman (and no fan of Crist) Tom Slade thinks this is a stupid idea.

Even former state GOP chairman Tom Slade, a vocal critic of Crist ("He's deader than the day before yesterday," he said of Crist political future), said it was a bad move. "That's going a step or two too far," Slade said. "Organized political parties can do some stupid stuff from time to time ... That loyalty oath doesn't make any sense to me."

David Frum's statement that the Republican Party panders to Fox News is an important truism. Marco Rubio has done Mitt Romney level flip flops on immigration and rail. Rubio's Tea Party pandering makes him less mainstream for the general election. Fox News CEO Roger Ailes recently ordered Sean Hannity not to appear at a Tea Party rally. You know the Tea Party is not mainstream when Fox News is getting nervous.

There is also the issue of Rubio's credit card scandal. Rubio can hardly paint himself as a fiscal conservative after spending $110,000 on a RPoF credit card. Rubio demanded former RPoF Chairman Jim Greer release his credit card records.

"It has become clear that Charlie Crist and Jim Greer have done untold damage to the Republican party of Florida. As Republican leaders, it is all of our responsibilities to clean up the mess they made as quickly as possible so we can turn the page and return to the true focus of the RPOF: to elect Republicans. Therefor I would ask you to strongly consider releasing all AMEX statement from Jim Greer's time as chairman to the RPOF Executive Committee," the letter states.

However, Rubio refuses to release records of his credit card transactions. Rubio also fails to mention that Crist never had a RPoF American Express card.

If the Republican Party wasn't operating in Fox News Bizarro World: Rubio wouldn't come near the GOP Senate nomination. Sarah Palin was the worst vice-presidential candidate since James Stockdale. She is now being talked about as a serious presidential contender. This is what happens when a political party is more concerned with silly loyality oaths than governing effectively.

Update: Steve Schale makexs a point that I have been thinking about. This is less about Rubio then the Florida Republican Party base looking for someone to defeat Charlie Crist. Fox News helped create the Tea Party. Republican politicians are too terrified to publicly criticize Fox News. David Frum was forced to resign from the American Enterprise Institute, after speaking out against Fox News. The GOP is pushing further to the Right. There is no room in the current GOP for Crist.