Candidate a no-show at Bush rally

The schedule for the GOP’s Florida “victory rally” said that President Bush would be introduced to the crowd by the party’s nominee for governor, Charlie Crist.

The president was there, but Crist was not. And the White House signaled its unhappiness.

With Bush doing poorly in opinion surveys, some Republican candidates have indicated that they did not want to appear with him at election season events.

Crist’s campaign said that was not the case this time. It said the candidate had no need to spend his final campaign day in conservative Pensacola, the site of Monday’s rally.

Still, Karl Rove, Bush’s chief political strategist, made a snippy remark to reporters about Crist’s decision to appear in other cities instead.

“Let’s see how many people show up in Palm Beach on 24 hours’ notice, versus 8,000 or 9,000 in Pensacola,” Rove said.

He overestimated the size of the Pensacola crowd by several thousand.

Crist is Florida’s attorney general. If elected governor, he would replace Bush’s brother Jeb, who is retiring due to term limits.

A spokesman for Crist’s opponent said voters should consider the canceled appearance to be “a snub.”

“Despite how much [Crist] has in common with President Bush, President Bush isn’t very popular right now,” said Josh Earnest, a spokesman for Democratic nominee Jim Davis. “Sensing that this race is getting a lot closer, I think Mr. Crist decided that he didn’t want to take a political risk.”

Still, Bush on Monday enthusiastically endorsed Crist, who has been leading Davis in most opinion polls.

“He’s experienced, he’s compassionate and he’ll work hard on behalf of all the citizens of this important state,” Bushsaid.

Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.), whose candidacy was discouraged by GOP leaders and who is trailing badly in opinion polls in her bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, also appeared at the Pensacola rally. Bush did not mention Harris, who appeared well before him.

Bush also spent his last hours before election day campaigning in Arkansas for a struggling Republican gubernatorial candidate, Asa Hutchinson. The president ended the day in Dallas supporting Gov. Rick Perry, who succeeded Bush in 2001.

With the president having campaigned almost exclusively for House and Senate candidates, his shift on the final day to campaigning for those seeking state offices suggested he had touched base in most of the districts where his presence would help, rather than hinder, Republican candidates.

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james.gerstenzang@latimes.com