Former Florida governor Charlie Crist announced he has changed his political affiliation to Democrat.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who was elected the state’s chief executive as a Republican and then ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as an independent, announced on Twitter that he’s switching to the Democratic Party.

The announcement Friday night fanned speculation that Crist would seek to regain his old job from Republican Gov. Rick Scott in 2014.

Crist sent out a tweet that said, “Proud and honored to join the Democratic Party in the home of President (at)Barack Obama!”

The tweet included a photo of a smiling Crist and his wife Carole as he held up a Florida voter registration application. The Tampa Bay Times reports that Crist signed the papers changing his affiliation from independent to Democrat at a Christmas reception at the White House. President Barack Obama greeted the news with a fist bump.
“I’ve had friends for years tell me, ‘You know Charlie, you’re a Democrat and you don’t know it,'” Crist told the newspaper Friday night.

I know. None of us saw this coming. And we’re all gobsmacked and heartbroken, or is it gobbroken and heartsmacked, over this completely unforeseen event.

In all seriousness, Crist has acted exactly the way that self proclaimed moderates within the Republican party typically act. They are willing to be Republicans until they lose a primary challenge and then they quit because “the Republican party left me.” It also goes to the utter lack of principle that permeates many of our political organization. In 2009, the feckless John Cornyn’s National Republican Senatorial Committee endorsed Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio.

NRSC chairman John Cornyn made the endorsement official this morning, casting Crist as the most electable candidate to hold the seat for the GOP.

“While I believe Marco Rubio has a very bright future within the Republican Party, Charlie Crist is the best candidate in 2010 to ensure that we maintain the checks and balances that Floridians deserve in the United States Senate,” Cornyn said in a statement.

“Governor Crist is a dedicated public servant and a dynamic leader, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee will provide our full support to ensure that he is elected the next United States Senator from Florida.”

The sad fact is that conservatives, motivated by principle, remain loyal to the GOP regardless of the way we are crapped upon by having our beliefs denigrated in the name of electability. Moderates tend to act from no deeper set of values than self aggrandizement. When they lose they turn Quisling. Hopefully, one day the NRSC and NRCC will learn that lesson when recruiting and endorsing candidates.