Obama and Crist Joined at the hip

Charlie Crist seems to be joined at the hip with Barack Obama. As in most other battleground states this is not where the would-be-moderate-mavericky type wants to be these days:

For the first time in his nearly four years in office, Crist's popularity slid below the important 50-percent benchmark according to a Mason-Dixon poll released today. That's down from 51 percent in the same poll in May.

The survey suggests that Crist's gamble in April to flee the Republican Party in the face of a strong primary challenge from former House Speaker Marco Rubio isn't paying off, said Mason-Dixon managing director Brad Coker.

It also shows that the moderate Crist continues to pay the price for embracing President Obama's budget-busting economic stimulus recovery plan, which voters rate as a failure, Coker said. Obama's popularity in Florida, 44 percent, mirrors Crist's.

"It's almost like they're joined at the hip," Coker said. "I don't see how Crist recovers from this."

David Freddoso points to the only bright spot in the news for Crist:

 The good news: He might only need 40 percent of the vote to win.

The three party race serves only the Democrats which is why left-leaning pollster have developed a fondness for a Ron Paul third party run in 2012.  This recent development seems to reflect a sudden lack of faith in their  fading all-star candidate.   My how times have changed.