Petty and Petulent

The MSM don’t seem interested in the robo-calling by the Reptilicons, but they are all atwitter with Charlie Crist’s decision not to come to Pensacola to be with the Shrubbery.

The CNN version from the Associated Press: White House irked after GOP candidate snubs Bush

PENSACOLA, Florida (AP) — The White House did not hide its irritation Monday at Florida GOP gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist for ducking President Bush at a campaign rally in the Republican-friendly Panhandle.

Crist said he considered the Pensacola area so firmly in his camp that it made more sense to campaign elsewhere in the state as the race to replace outgoing Gov. Jeb Bush tightened.

On a tarmac in Texas where the president boarded Air Force One for the trip east, Bush political strategist Karl Rove mockingly questioned what kind of alternate rally Crist could put together that would rival the expected 10,000-person crowd that Bush was expected to draw at the Pensacola Civic Center.

The White House already had distributed schedules saying Crist would introduce Bush at the rally.

Crist’s opponent, Democratic Rep. Jim Davis, seized on the news.

“Now that the president is so unpopular, Charlie refuses to stand side by side with him,” Davis said. “It says when the going gets tough, Charlie won’t stand up.”

Mustang Bobby’s post from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel puts the actual crowd at about 7,000, which isn’t very good for a Republican President in a blood red area. The Civic Center can easily hold 10,000 people.

While Karl is having his conniption about Crist, they managed to leave poor deluded Katherine Harris, the only statewide candidate at the event, in the cheap seats. Katherine is about the only candidate in the state that wanted to be seen with the Shrubbery, and they had her standing next to the kitchen with the volunteers.