Crist strips anti-abortion language from campaign website as he seeks Democratic support

Crist drops anti-abortion language from website

WASHINGTON — Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has dropped strong anti-abortion language from his campaign website as the Republican-turned-independent courts Democrats and independent voters in his Senate bid.

Crist, who moderate reputation didn’t sit well with some Republicans, abandoned the GOP to run as an independent.

In a poll released Wednesday, Crist enjoyed a slim lead in a three-way race over tea party favorite Marco Rubio and likely Democratic nominee Rep. Kendrick Meek. The poll found Crist is the best known of the candidates and retained a favorable rating of 52 percent. Among Democrats, his favorability rating was 55 percent.

“Governor Crist believes strongly in the sanctity of life,” according to the now-stripped website page. He also cited his support for adoption and opposition to same-sex marriage.

A spokesman for Crist did not have an immediate comment.

Linda McMahon’s Senate campaign isn’t doing as badly as some polls say, according to her campaign.

Oh, she’s still losing to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. Just not by as wide a margin as some polls suggest.

McMahon’s campaign sent an e-mail to reporters touting its own internal polling data that showed the former World Wrestling Entertainment executive 13 points behind Blumental. A Quinnipiac University poll from May showed Blumenthal’s ahead by 25 points — even as he struggled to explain misstatements about his military service during Vietnam.

While political campaigns routinely tell reporters about their internal poll numbers, they seldom release polls that show them trailing so badly. McMahon’s campaign says their numbers reflect a race that is closer than public polls would suggest.

But it’s worth remembering McMahon is hardly running a conventional campaign. After The New York Times posted a story about Blumenthal’s comments on his military record, McMahon’s team claimed credit for pointing journalists to the story.

McMahon’s record at WWE includes parading scantily clad women throughout her broadcasts, kicking her performers in the crotch and getting slapped by her daughter during a televised program. Unconventional e-mails are hardly unique in the race to replace retiring Sen. Chris Dodd.

A new public Quinnipiac poll is expected on Thursday.

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Of course Carly Fiorina would cut 10,000 jobs if she had to.

On her first day as the Republican nominee to challenge Sen. Barbara Boxer, the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive played up her tough-on-the-bottom-line persona. When asked during a California radio show if she’d cut 10,000 jobs if that’s what her budget dictated, the first-time candidate was curt: “Of course.”

She then highlighted her record at Hewlett-Packard and said those lessons can be applied to Washington.

“I know what every responsible family and every responsible business in California knows, that sometimes in tough times you have to make tough choices and that’s what families and businesses are doing all across California right now and what is enraging to them is that the federal government in Washington, D.C., never makes a tough choice,” she told Los Angeles station KNX.

She was pushed out of the company in 2005 after the computer and printer maker’s stock sank 56 percent on her watch.

Fiorina won the GOP nomination on Tuesday on a tough-on-spending message and a campaign against Washington.