Democrats May Back Crist

Top Democrats are now publicly considering supporting newly-minted independent Charlie Crist in Florida’s Senate race if self-made subprime billionaire Jeff Greene wins their party’s primary. Greene has a conveyor belt-worth of baggage, but he’s promised to drop $40 million on the primary alone. That probably gives him a leg up on party favorite Kendrick Meek, who’s polling way behind Crist and conservative Republican Marco Rubio anyway.

Since becoming an independent, Crist has unceremoniously jumped leftward on several issues to appeal to Democratic constituencies. So if polls have Greene lagging, Crist could become the de facto Democratic nominee, strategists tell Politico, in what one party official called the “anybody but Marco campaign.” Either way, few intend to support Greene. The question is, “do we stay out of the race, or support Crist?” said one Florida congressman. “It will be tempting to endorse Crist.” (More Marco Rubio stories.)