Charlie Crist sends Florida politics on a wild ride

Look what you've wrought, Charlie Crist.

Since that casual May 2009 e-mail announcing your candidacy for U.S. Senate, you've ripped apart the Florida GOP, and now it's dividing Florida Democrats. You've gone from national superstar and future presidential contender to someone banished from your lifelong party and fighting for political survival.

Not to mention the trickle-down effect: Republican fixture Bill McCollum, poised to breeze into a second term as attorney general, is now through in politics; probably so is your lieutenant governor, Jeff Kottkamp; Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, the state Democratic Party's great hope, skipped reelection and is locked in an ugly, neck-and-neck race for governor against a controversial businessman no one had heard of nine months ago.

Amid the flood of nasty TV spots, robo calls and mailers, it's worth pausing at the close of the craziest election cycle in modern Florida history to review where we've landed after an 18-month political roller coaster.

Mix the worst economy in decades, a president whose policies have evoked strong feelings pro and con, and a mutinous electorate with America's biggest battleground state and you wind up with a you-can't-make-this-stuff-up election:

• A billionaire yachter and political rookie threatening to snatch the Democratic Senate nomination but falling short.

• GOP leaders trashing a multimillionaire gubernatorial candidate and political rookie as a crook in the primary and then embracing him as their nominee.

• Florida's once invincible governor dropping from the GOP, running for Senate as an independent, and ultimately trying to get Democratic icon Bill Clinton to nudge Kendrick Meek out of the race.

``Who could have come up with this scenario two years ago?'' said Quinnipiac University pollster Peter Brown. ``If Charlie Crist had just run for governor, it's likely he would not even be challenged for re-election.''

CRIST'S CHOICE

Crist's decision to run for Senate set in motion a scramble that left every statewide office open in 2010. That would have been chaotic enough, but it occurred amid a horrific economy and a president passing sweeping and controversial measures from the stimulus package to health care.

``Clearly the failure of Barack Obama's administration to turn around this economy has affected the fates of both Republicans and Democrats alike,'' said University of Florida political scientist Daniel Smith. ``It's amazing all these people who all had bright political futures and are now on the verge of the political wasteland.''

Indeed, Meek started running for Senate when Democrats were still basking in the popularity of Obama. Now he's running a distant third and repeatedly denying rumors he's poised to quit.

Crist, badly overestimating the hunger for bipartisanship, literally embraced Obama and his stimulus package, and saw the bottom fall out from his support. He has gone from a Republican star to nonpartisan underdog.

OUT OF NOWHERE

And when this all started, Marco Rubio was a hopeless dreamer taking on the leader of his party and Florida's most popular politician. Now he's set to become Florida's next U.S. senator and almost certain to be a 2012 vice presidential contender. With uncompromising conservatism, Rubio proved to be the perfect candidate at the perfect time.

Miley Cyrus’ Movie ‘LOL’ Picked Up By DistributorMarco Rubio continues to lead in U.S. Senate race