Charlie Crist: "In life, hopefully all of us continue to evolve and become wiser" [View all]

[madfloridian]

He has recently denounced several positions he had before.

Who is the real Charlie Crist?

"With more experience, more time, more reading, more study, people reach conclusions that may not be in lockstep with what they thought when they were 15 or 25 or 35 years old."

Among the stands he now thinks were wrong:

Calling for former President Bill Clinton's resignation during the Monica Lewinsky scandal in 1998 while running against U.S. Sen. Bob Graham.

Seeking a major expansion of private school tuition vouchers and joining a Republican attack on the teachers union while he was education commissioner in 2001.

Signing the Grover Norquist anti-tax pledge in 2009 while running in a U.S. Senate primary against Marco Rubio.

Another article points out that he did not receive an especially warm welcome after his speech at the DNC. It also points to a very recent poll by the St. Pete Polls showing how much he leads in the governor's race in 2014.

The first Florida-based poll conducted since the close of the Democratic National Convention shows former governor Charlie Crist lapping the prospective field of Democratic candidates eyeing the 2014 gubernatorial race.

Crist is the top choice of 61% of likely Democratic voters, followed by former Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink with 25% support. Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer comes in at 7%, state Senator Nan Rich at 3.5% and Florida Democratic Party chair Rod Smith at 3.4%.

Sen. Rich is the only candidate officially running for governor. Dyer and Sink have said they will make a decision about whether to run after the presidential election. Crist has drawn extensive speculation that he intends to run for governor as a Democrat in 2014.

These new poll numbers will certainly intensify the speculation.

Poll of 2014 Democratic primary: Charlie Crist 61%, Alex Sink 25%