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Monday, Aug 30, 2010 6:31 PM UTC

Charlie Crist opposes gay marriage, sort of

The independent Florida Senate candidate continues to struggle with concrete questions about his actual positions

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Topics: Charlie Crist, War Room, 2010 Elections, Florida Senate Race, Gay Marriage, Healthcare Reform, U.S. Senate,

Charlie Crist opposes gay marriage, sort ofCharlie Crist

Charlie Crist refuses to say whom he will caucus with, should he be elected to the Senate. Which is smart. But it’s also hard to keep up that guessing game when you have to actually explain how you would vote on things, in the Senate. That is when independent Florida Gov. Charlie Crist keeps getting mixed up!

Last week, he said that while the healthcare reform bill was flawed, he would’ve voted for it. His campaign immediately issued a “clarification” explaining that he would not have voted for it.

Then, yesterday, he told CNN that he backs a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, even though he is “OK” with two dudes living together, or whatever. A few hours later, the Crist campaign “clarified” that the governor just meant an amendment to the Florida constitution. That is, apparently, the “moderate” compromise on the issue.

Crist’s refusal to say whom he’ll caucus with is actually making it impossible for voters to make an informed decision, but if elected it is almost certain that he will be either the sort of senator who will occasionally randomly decide to withhold his support from something until it is made worse, or he will be the sort of senator who will occasionally dangle the carrot of his support for something and then never follow through.

So if voters like the gridlock that makes them hate Congress, go nuts and vote Charlie Crist.

(To be fair, some people do like gridlock. There are people who do things like vote for Obama and then decide, one year later, to sabotage his major domestic policy proposals by voting for Scott Brown — but there are not many of them. Even though all of them seem to work in political journalism or punditry.)

Alex Pareene

Alex Pareene writes about politics for Salon and is the author of "The Rude Guide to Mitt." Email him at apareene@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @pareene More Alex Pareene.

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