for crist's sake

Charlie Crist will run as an independent in Florida, bailing on the Republican Party that was clearly (unless Marco Rubio was found in bed having sex with a dead boy who worked for Castro) about to kick Crist to the curb.

Republicans are shocked, shocked, that somebody would betray the people and switch parties before running. Some headlines call this an "unprecedented" move.

My, memories are short - or more realistically, memories are selective. How many Republicans are former Democrats, especially in the South? Ask Senator Richard Shelby, for one, who switched parties back in '94 when the going was good. This isn't anything new. Republicans seemed to like the idea a few years back when Joe Lieberman bailed on the Democrats after he lost that primary and ran as a GOP lackey I mean independent for Senate (and won).