© 2024 WLRN
MIAMI | SOUTH FLORIDA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Protesters Greet Charlie Crist With Flip Flops On Their Posters

Hillary Lindwall/WLRN

Former Republican governor Charlie Crist was greeted by protesters at Books and Books in Miami Beach, where Crist was to sign copies of his new autobiography, "The Party's Over." 

Apparently, the criticism he faces after switching political parties is just getting started.

Protesters waved signs bearing glued-on flip flops, a criticism of his move from the Republican to the Democratic party.
 
Lenny Curry is the Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. He says Crist supporters need to realize why he left the party in the first place.  
 
"When Charlie was governor and Florida most needed leadership, when we were bleeding jobs, and we needed someone who just cared about the citizens of the state, he ran away from the state," Curry says. "[Crist] tried to run for the U.S. Senate as a very conservative Republican and he lost. He is trying to reinvent himself as a democrat."
 
Crist supporters were not in short supply either. Jose Archila stood in line to get his copy of Crist’s book signed. He says he admires the former governor for switching parties.
 
"He was able to change his views, and not just be a mindless person who just follows the views of his party," Archila says. 
 

Credit Hillary Lindwall/WLRN
Crist with his autobiography.

Crist says he is ready for the challenges that await him in his second run for governor of Florida. He says he switched to the Democratic party because of Republican changes.

"What moved was not me," Crist says. "What moved was the leadership of the Republican Party. They went so far to the right that Jeb Bush himself even says the party is perceived as being anti-women, anti-minority, anti-gay couples, anti-immigration, anti-education, anti-everything you can think of."
 
Crist will continue his book tour through South Florida this week with stops in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. 

More On This Topic