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Crist calls Obama health care plan 'cockamamie'

The Associated Press

Gov. Charlie Crist passes his rival for the GOP Senate nomination, former House Speaker Marco Rubio of Miami, at the start of the Florida Republican Party's quarterly meeting today.

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By The Associated Press

Published: August 22, 2009

Updated: 08/22/2009 10:49 pm

ORLANDO - Florida Gov. Charlie Crist called President Barack Obama's proposed health care overhaul "cockamamie" as he and the state Republican Party tried Saturday to get activists charged up for the 2010 election year.

The party also tried to reach out to young voters during its weekend meeting, featuring speeches from former Miss California Carrie Prejean and Olympic medalist Bruce Jenner and hosting discussions on how to use new media to promote party messages. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a potential 2012 presidential candidate, spoke at a party dinner Saturday night.

Party leaders made it clear they hope to turn the opposition to Obama's national health care plan into success next year when Crist runs for Senate instead of a second term. The governor's office and all three of Florida's Cabinet positions will be on the ballot as open seats.

On health care, Crist said, "What's going on in Washington is nuts."

"The prosperity we enjoy as a country is not because of government," he added. "It's because of free enterprise, and entrepreneurship and hard work."

He said the Republican Party is the one that wants to keep spending down and taxes low.

"It's why we're going to do so damn well next year and win," Crist said, the first of two times he punctuated his remarks with mild profanity. He ended his speech by saying, "God bless you, God bless Florida, and let's win these damn races."

Several party leaders mentioned the health care debate as a key to rebuilding enthusiasm for Republican candidates.

"This August has seen an emotion, a passion that cannot be contrived, that cannot be manufactured by any political party," said U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, who is running for agriculture commissioner. "It is raw emotional reaction to something that is wrong for America."

Now the party needs to tap that emotion, he said.

"It gives us this window of opportunity to say, first of all, 'See? I told you so,'" Putnam said, adding that Republicans can then discuss the differences they have with Democrats.

"We have their attention. Now we to back-fill with the substance of who we are and what we believe," Putnam said.

Obama carried Florida in November, but a recent Quinnipiac University poll shows that his popularity is dropping here.

In separate remarks, Crist told a crowd gathered for a young voter outreach event that they will be the key to the party's future success.

"Making sure that young people are engaged, are involved, are active — you will make the difference for decades to come," Crist said. "Your being here today shows that you care, that you want to make a difference, that you want a better future and a brighter future."

At an evening dinner, Attorney General Bill McCollum said a priority if elected to replace Crist would be to diversify Florida's economy, particularly by making the state attractive with low taxes.

"I'm a fiscal conservative, I won't just campaign as one, I'll govern as one," said McCollum, who is the only major Republican in the race. Another Cabinet member, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, is the only major Democrat running for governor.

"We can't tax and spend our way out of our fiscal difficulties, we have to grow our way out of it," McCollum said.

Pawlenty sounded a lot like he was running against Obama, dashing off a series of one-liners criticizing the president's administration and the Democrat-controlled Congress on health care, running up the deficit and the stimulus package.

"I don't think Cash for Clunkers should be a label for that particular program, I think it should be a label for the whole entire administration," he said. He later said, "Giving the Democrats control and responsibility for our money is like letting Michael Vick watch your dog for the weekend."

But he said Republicans have to present their own ideas.

"We can't just be the critics in chief, we've got to cast a vision that is hopeful and positive for our states and for our country that reminds people not just what we believe in, but why we believe it," Pawlenty said.

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