Charlie Crist’s old-fashioned economic campaign- POLITICO

Good Friday morning.

Message in a bottle — Charlie Crist wants to talk about the economy and pocketbook issues. Will anybody care?

Invisible sun — The Democratic congressman and candidate for governor stood on the steps of the old Capitol on Thursday to outline the third part of what he’s calling his “Affordable Florida for All” campaign platform.

Spirits in the material world — “People are being squeezed,” Crist said while announcing ideas that he contends would deal with Florida’s rising property rates. (One of the ideas, ironically enough, was pushed by a Republican legislator unsuccessfully a few hours later.) Previous parts of Crist’s plan have been aimed at the state’s affordable housing crisis and look to upend the current system of how utilities are regulated.

Walking in your footsteps — Crist’s decision to embrace a form of economic populism — while at the same time spreading a message that Gov. Ron DeSantis is more interested in the 2024 presidential race than issues Floridians care about — is a throwback to his first run as governor (and when he was a Republican). In 2006, Crist focused on rising property taxes and property insurance rates.

Demolition man — But the political landscape has changed dramatically since then. Media coverage — even at the state level — has skewed sharply so it’s all about partisanship and clickbait and outrage. Issues don’t matter as much to many press outlets (and yes, I know many of you will point at this one). Only four reporters — and just one television camera — showed up for Crist’s event. He was competing with a Florida Legislature that is now wading deep into the culture wars, and a governor whose clashes with President Joe Biden and response to Covid-19 have made him a rising national GOP star.

Don’t stand so close to me — Crist acknowledged the combativeness that is now part of politics and wished that everyone would “stop the screaming and yelling at each other.” He pivoted to DeSantis and said “every time he gives a press conference the guy looks angry. I don’t know what’s wrong. That’s his style, but it’s not mine.” But he also contended that Floridians are “frustrated” and “nobody seems to have their back.”

When the world is running down — Look, there can be little doubt that Florida appears to be stumbling down the same path as California with the cost of living in paradise continues to skew higher. Crist’s main Democratic rival — Nikki Fried — has touched on these issues as well but her campaign is more about being a louder critic and antagonist of DeSantis.

Bring on the night — The problem for Crist is that DeSantis already has the power of incumbency, a huge campaign fundraising advantage, and will continue to garner widespread national television attention. Crist continues to cross the state, meet with local voters and campaign the old-fashioned way. But unless Crist says something over the top about DeSantis, he’ll have a hard time getting earned media to pay attention.

— WHERE’S RON? — Gov. DeSantis is holding a press conference with Department of Economic Opportunity Secretary Dane Eagle in…