Charlie Crist Throws Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad First Pitch

SB Nation's headline puts it this way: Toward Canon of Terrible First Pitches, Charlie Crist Aims High. So true.

The first rule for any public figure tossing out a first pitch is to make sure you don't skip it in the dirt - that's a clear sign of weakness likely to cost the pol no less than a quarter of the electorate (margin of error plus or minus 100 percentage points). By that standard, Crist succeeds. But by the only marginally less important standard of "whoa there, don't launch it into the visitor's dugout" the governor fails spectacularly.

Crist seemed upbeat about his performance telling MLB.com, "It was fun. I threw it a little wide right. I think that was more symbolic of my opponent to be honest." Ha. You can watch those comments, and the pitch in higher quality, here.

There is good news for Crist, however, and a developing scenario that will not cheer the hearts of Rubio fans.  Here's the rumor: Democrat Kendrick Meek will drop out and endorse Crist.  Allahpundit finds this disquieting:

Simply put, Meek can’t win; with less than a month to go, there’s no longer any doubt about it. Even if Crist dropped out and endorsed him, he’d probably still lose to Rubio as centrist Republicans in Crist’s camp tilted back towards the GOP nominee. Meek’s only role in this race at this point is to make Rubio’s path to the Senate nice and easy, which he’s doing a splendid job of.

This can’t go on. Democrats won’t ride this train off a cliff. Some sort of deal must be in the works. Dude, I’m nervous.

Stephen Moore is following the trail of speculation:

Democrats had hoped that when Mr. Crist abandoned the GOP for an independent run, it would split the Republican vote and propel Mr. Meek into the winner's circle. With four weeks to go, no one believes that now. Mr. Meek, who is African-American, polls strongly only with black voters.

UPDATE:  Ace of Spades explores the reasons why the rumors may not be true. Read the account here.

For now, though, just go back and watch the pitch again.