Say Goodbye to Charlie Crist

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will announce today that he's leaving the battle for the GOP nomination for Senate, where he's getting his butt kicked, and will run as an independent where odds are he still won't win but could also cost Republican Marco Rubio the seat.

How desperate is Crist to win this seat?  This desperate:

Marc Ambinder reports:

Charlie Crist, soon to be independent Senate candidate from Florida, tried to reach White House chief of staff Emanuel through intermediates. WH refuses to take the call. Dems plan big talent/money blitz for Kendrick Meek.

What's Crist up to? Might he be interested in cutting a deal to caucus with the Democrats if they chase Meek from the field?

Who knows? But the most plausible path to victory for Crist is if Meek backs him. That's a real possibility, I think, later in the game if Rubio and Crist are each getting about 40% in the polls and Meek is getting about 20%. But, as voters get to know the lesser-known Rubio and Meek, it's probably more likely they emerge as the frontrunners and Crist fades as election day approaches.

And then does Crist throw his support to Meek in hopes of getting a nice ambassadorship? Again, who knows? In a three-way race things could get a little crazy (maybe starting with the speculation about how crazy things could get).

Crist's political career will self-destruct today. He doesn't have the support he thinks he does and people won't be impressed at all with his poor sportsmanship. He's toast, and hopefully his GOP supporters will leave him and stay with the party and Rubio.