In truth, if ever an elected state governor could rightly claim that the party left him and not the other way around, it is Mr. Crist. The most conservative branch of the party tried to bully the governor into signing a bill it had rammed through the Legislature with almost no public input and without hearing from people within education circles on teacher merit pay.
The governor, as with most reasonable people, said he favored basing teachers' pay on measurable standards that will reward good teachers, including those who take on tough assignments in poorly performing schools and those working with special-needs children.
If both major parties had more members who based their decisions on critical thinking and the welfare of the people who elected them; our country would not be in such a divisive place as it is right now IMO. I don't agree with all Gov Crist's politics by a long shot; but, I do admire him for standing up for what he believes to be the right thing. He is not just pandering to the party's base and the money bags...he understands that once elected, the job is to govern the state for all the people, not just the Republican Party!
Person, place, thing whatever. 