Florida Governor Charlie Crist put to bed forever rumors that he might bolt the Republican Party in his race against Marco Rubio and run as an independent in the fall.

Right?

Maybe not.

If you’ll recall, the rhetoric was forceful from Crist campaign manager Eric Eikenberg, who said:

“To put these rumors to rest once and for all, as we have said countless times before, Governor Crist is running for the United States Senate as a Republican. He will not run as an Independent or as a No Party Affiliation.”

But as the deadline slowly approaches for Crist to make one of his biggest decisions as Governor, to sign or veto Senate Bill 6, the rumors about going indie won’t go away until the deadline passes for him to make such a declaration, which is in 16 days.

This morning Crist’s flirtation with running as N-P-A gets page A4 treatment in the Wall Street Journal, in an article co-written by (former St. Pete Times) reporter Peter Wallsten and Valerie Bauerlein.

The piece includes an anonymous comment from a “GOP strategist who serves as an informal adviser to the governor” who says