Resign to run

The Buzz on Florida Politics in yesterday's metro section of the St. Petersburg Times stated Governor Charlie Crist will appear with John McCain at a fundraiser tonight in New York City. Mr. Crist will also accompany McCain to Connecticut, Missouri and Arizona on Super Tuesday. It sure looks like Charlie is interviewing for the vice presidential spot on the republican ticket with McCain.

If Super Tuesday puts McCain as the front-runner for the delegate count nationwide then an announcement of his running mate will surely be made soon by his campaign. It looks like Crist appears to be on the short list of vice presidential picks for the McCain team.

Florida has a resign to run law for all elected officials. This statute would require Charlie Crist to resign his position as the governor of Florida if he accepts an offer for a McCain-Crist ticket. That would mean we would be voting for a new governor in November since Charlie Crist has served less than two years in office and a new election would be required to fill his position.

I just found out from a a very reliable source that the Resign to Run law for state officials running for federal offices was abolished last year. Apparently this was done to assist Charlie Justice to run against Bill Young (Pinellas County) or for Crist to run as VP. This certainly answers the questions many of us had about Governor Crist riding shotgun with John McCain on his campaign trail just prior to Super Tuesday!