When Charlie Crist announced on Bill Maher's HBO show earlier this year that he believed that the U.S. economic embargo was antiquated and needed to go, it created headlines throughout Florida. But the idea that he might actually travel to the Communist island this summer was always considered a bit edgier, and in the end, he and his advisers have now decided against it, as originally reported this morning on TBO.com.
"Despite his stark disagreements with the government in Cuba, the governor continues to believe the embargo hasn’t worked for the Cuban people and is bad for Florida's economy," spokesman Brendan Gilfillan said in a statement issued this morning. "If at some point after the election there is an opportunity to travel there to learn from the people of Cuba and help find opportunities for Florida businesses the governor will go."
"I'm obviously disappointed, but I certainly understand that he can't get out of the country for five days at this time," replied Al Fox with the Tampa-based Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy Foundation. Fox has been one of the leading advocates for years on liberalizing relations with Cuba, and had met with campaign staffers about the possibility of such a trip recently.
Although Crist had previously spoken in support of maintaining the sanctions, he's hardly the first politician to flip-flop on this issue, as it's increasingly becoming the more popular stance to take. Crist's main opponent in the Democratic primary election this August, Nan Rich, has also c0me out against the embargo.
And a recently released poll published by Florida International University shows that a majority (55 percent) of Cuban-Americans in South Florida favor ending the sanctions as well. However, the results weren't that clear-cut. Fifty-one percent of Cuban-Americans who are registered voters still support the sanctions. That statistic could have chilled the Crist camp when they were hashing out the pros. vs. cons of such a trip.
No word yet from the Scott re-elect team, but both Rick Scott and his running mate, lieutenant governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera, were critical when they learned that Crist was contemplating such a trip.
"It just shows Charlie's ignorance on the issue of Cuba," Lopez-Cantera told the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald earlier this year, adding that Crist would be a "puppet" of the Castro regime and would help enrich it by simply traveling there.
Just last month, Crist told reporters before a fundraiser in St. Petersburg that he had filed a formal application to travel to Cuba, and rhapsodized about what the end of the sanctions could mean for Florida's economy.
"It’s stuck years ago in a time warp, people are driving 1950s Studebaker's down there, so if we are able to have better relations with the island, lift the embargo, have better economic enhancements, look at what that would do for Florida," he said. "All the road construction, all the infrastructure, all the housing that would be necessary. Florida, our Florida, would be the natural launching pad. Talk about a jobs program? It’s a big deal."
But that was before more recent polls show the race tightening. A new Florida Chamber of Commerce poll out today actually shows Scott ahead of Crist, 41-38 percent. Libertarian candidate Adrian Wyllie is at 4 percent.
