Is Crist flip-flopping on Obama?

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

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Gov. Charlie Crist says he doesn't think President Obama will be re-elected. Watch the story Watch Video

TALLAHASSEE (Bay News 9) -- Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is gunning for the U.S. Senate, and he says President Obama may be looking for new work too, come 2012.

Tuesday Crist announced he believes the president won't be re-elected.

Crist welcomed Obama to the Sunshine State with open arms seven months ago. The president was here to campaign for the stimulus. That was then, and this is now.

"There are concerns that we have about the direction of this administration," Crist said during an interview on CNN.

Crist says the country won't vote for Obama again.

Bay News 9 caught up with him in Tallahassee and asked, why the change of heart?

"The people chose President Obama, and they wanted change," he said. "But I think they're getting more change than maybe they bargained for. And there may be a little bit of buyer's remorse as it relates to the expansive growth of government."

Crist is an emerging face in a broader movement to return Republicans to power in Washington. There's talk of the governor as a Republican presidential prospect in 2012.

But his real focus may be more immediate according to Florida state political scientist Carol Weissert.

"I don't know what's in Charlie Crist's head, but I do know that there's a Republican primary," Weissert said.

Weissert says the governor has a lot in his favor but needs to get back to Republican basics.

"He's got a lot of money," she said. "He's very charismatic. He appeals to a lot of Democrats, independents, wishy-washy Republicans, but he's got to get the hard-core Republicans."

To watch Gov. Crist's entire interview that aired on CNN, go to Bay News 9 On Demand channel 342 to watch that six-minute clip. Select politics then interviews.