In case there was any doubt Florida Governor and US Senate candidate Charlie Crist offers nothing but desperate attempts to save his fading political future, he proved it at last night's debate. Mr. Crist, who abandoned his Republican primary bid (and his allegedly Republican ideals) once he realized he couldn't win the nomination, has reduced his non-party-affiliated candidacy to claiming he's the better of two alternatives to what Florida voters actually want.

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In the debate between Governor Crist, Representative Kendrick Meek (D-Florida) and Republican Marco Rubio, Mr. Crist tried to portray Mr. Rubio as an extremist and Mr. Meek as unelectable. But what he really did was portray himself as someone far removed from the majority of Floridians who strongly favor Mr. Rubio's conservative message.

"It's abundantly clear that there's an extreme right faction in the Republican Party," Mr. Crist said. "I'm the only candidate that can both win in November and crash that tea party in Washington." (source)

Unfortunately for the governor, Sunshine State voters don't want that party crashed; they want to be well represented at it. Mr. Rubio, whose status as a Tea Party favorite propelled him to victory in Florida's GOP primary, currently leads the three-way race by 13 points. (source) But Mr. Crist just couldn't seem to stop himself from making what he evidently thought were clever comments against the Tea Party movement. "You haven't been drinking the Kool-Aid, my friend, you've been drinking too much tea," he told Mr. Rubio during one exchange.

Representative Meek dutifully recited the tired old Democratic talking points, warning of a return to the "Dick Cheney days" if Mr. Rubio were elected. But his best shot of the night was at the governor when he referred to his frequently shifting positions by saying Mr. Crist "stands on a wet paper box." (source)

Now that was a clever and effective comment.