St. Petersburg Times Endorses Charlie Crist

It isn't that surprising that the St. Petersburg Times has endorsed Charlie Crist.

The final straw came this spring, when Crist vetoed the education bill that would have dramatically changed the way teachers are paid and evaluated. Republicans rammed the bill through the Legislature with no input from teachers or patience for dissent, and they expected the governor to go along. They later complained Crist originally supported the bill and flip-flopped for political gain. But the legislation's general merits were undermined by its flawed specifics. The governor was right to veto it.

That was not the first time Crist refused to join a Republican stampede. As attorney general, he was not among the Republicans in Tallahassee and Washington who tried to trample on the constitutional right to privacy in the Terri Schiavo feeding tube case. In a highly charged national debate, Crist quietly stuck to his convictions that government should stay out of an individual's most private decisions.

The St. Petersburg Times wasn't going to endorse Marco Rubio. What is bad for the Kendrick Meek campaign is they at one time had a legitimate shot at this endorsement. Meek hasn't proved he can beat Rubio in the general election. The St. Petersburg Times endorsement translate into anybody but Rubio.