WSJ: Charlie Crist is "The Republican Barney Frank"

There's an increasingly competitive Republican primary underway for Florida's open U.S. Senate seat. It wasn't supposed to be tough. It was supposed to be a cakewalk for somewhat moderate Republican Governor Charlie Crist. But, Crist got a very conservative opponent, Marc Rubio. Polling shows there is hope for Rubio. And, the right wingers are lining up against Crist.

Witness the Wall Street Journal editorial, "Hurricane Charlie: The Republican Barney Frank":

Florida Governor Charlie Crist is running for the U.S. Senate next year, and we wonder if one reason is that he doesn't want to be in Tallahassee when the next hurricane hits his state. His veto of a hurricane insurance reform bill last week all but guarantees a state disaster on top of any wrought by Mother Nature.

The bill would have trimmed the cost of a state-run enterprise that insures homeowners against storm damage. The program has an $18 billion unfunded liability and has taxpayers on the line for tens of billions in property losses from the next major hurricane. The Republican legislature tried to reduce those future losses, but Mr. Crist sounded like Barney Frank rolling the dice on Fannie Mae in declaring there's nothing to worry about.

Oh, that's what they meant. Hurricane insurance is somehow akin to Fannie Mae. Sure. That seems like a bit of a stretch, doesn't it? I think the WSJ is playing some games here.