Jamie Miller: What does Crist’s LG pick say about the state of his campaign?

 Charlie Crist’s campaign is in trouble and his pick for lieutenant governor is further proof.

Crist picked Annette Tadeo-Goldstein to be his running mate.  Tadeo-Goldstein is the chairman of the Democratic Party in Miami-Dade County.

There are two reasons this pick should be a warning sign for Crist supporters.

The first is the timing of the pick.  He makes his selection on July 17, more than 100 days away from the general election.  The Crist campaign wanted to dominate the local news cycle.

But he had the unfortunate timing of announcing his selection the same day a passenger plane was shot down over Eastern Ukraine and Israeli troops moved into Gaza.

Supporters have to ask themselves, “Have we gotten so far behind Scott that we need to dominate the news cycle in mid-July with one of the most important announcements of the campaign?”  Without question, Crist’s polling must show him slipping farther behind Scott in polls.

The second and probably more important reason this pick shows Crist’s campaign is in trouble is that he picked someone who only solidifies the Democratic base.

Gov. Rick Scott lost Miami-Dade County to Alex Sink in 2010 by about 70,000 votes.  Not only does Crist select someone from Miami-Dade County, he picks the chairwoman of the Democratic Party from Miami-Dade County.  This is hardly a move that someone would make to “govern for all of Florida,” which is one of Crist’s main themes.  This choice is in direct conflict with the campaign theme Crist has been championing for months.

Naming Tadeo-Goldstein will have Crist leading with his chin right into the Scott uppercut that has been trying to position Crist as an opportunistic, partisan and liberal politician.  Crist just proved Scott right with this pick.

Jamie Miller is a political consultant who lives in Sarasota, FL and is an avid sports fan. Column courtesy of Context Florida.