Quote of the Day

"I think there is a national leader, his name is President Obama."

Gov. Charlie Crist, on Meet the Press.

Crist is a smart pol. He understands Republicans are getting smashed in the polls by Obama. Secretly, Republicans want the stimulus bill to pass. Gov. Sarah Palin made a stimulus wish list and went to Washington to lobby for passage of the stimulus bill. Publicly, Palin said, "I agree with the decision of Senator Murkowski and Congressman Young to vote NO on the package."

Senator Arlen Specter had this exchange with a fellow Republican.

Arlen Specter was one of just three Senate Republicans to buck his party and vote in favor of President Obama’s stimulus package. After he announced his decision, he says, a fellow GOP senator approached him in private to offer congratulations.

When asked, however, that unknown senator declined to join Specter because he was too afraid of drawing a primary challenge. He was glad somebody was doing the right thing, but he wouldn’t risk it himself.

As Specter put it, “there are a lot of people in the Republican caucus who are glad to see this action taken without their fingerprints, without their participation. … I think a good part of the caucus agrees with the person I quoted.”

"They're like sheep in a way," former Florida House Speaker Johnnie Byrd said of fellow Republicans. "They're looking for someone to tell them what to do." Beltway Republicans were under the misguided impression John Boehner, Eric Canter and Mitch McConnell are more politically astute than Barack Obama. Obama got his stimulus package passed and Congressional Democrats are polling better than Republican rivals. The stimulus package hasn't hurt Crist's numbers, either.

Why are Congressional Republicans listening to the leadership that lost the past two elections? I don't know why, but it makes me happy.

The Sheep Herder Is Not Loved

This is is sign of how much fellow Republicans hate former Florida House Speaker Johnnie Byrd.

Rep. Ron Saunders has offered an amendment to rename the Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer's Center and Research Institute after former president Reagan, who suffered from the disease. Saunders, D-Key West, said he thought the name change could soften controversy over the center, established by the former speaker of the House, while attracting more funding.

The amendment failed 36-67.

Calling colleague sheep left a lasting sting with Republicans. To think that Byrd actually thought he could get elected to the U.S. Senate. Now that's funny.

USF never asked for the Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer's Center and Research Institute. They already had an excellent facility with the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer and Reseach Institute. That didn't stop Byrd from ramming his pork project through the legislature.