Florida GOP auctions Crist painting on eBay
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/05/03/art.crist.ebay.jpg
caption="The state party took to eBay Monday afternoon to sell off the framed portrait under the banner 'Help the Republican Party of FL Get Our Money Back!'"]
Washington (CNN) - The Republican Party of Florida has followed through on its promise to auction off an oil painting of Gov. Charlie Crist, who bolted from the party last week to run for Senate as an independent.
The state party took to eBay Monday afternoon to sell off the framed portrait under the banner "Help the Republican Party of FL Get Our Money Back!"
The eBay product listing, which describes the subject as "Untrustworthy, Self-Serving Politician," drips heavily with sarcasm and outright disdain for the first-term governor.
"Canvas is naturally sensitive to changes of temperature and humidity, just as the Charlie Crist's political convictions are subject to fluctuations in poll numbers," reads one mock disclaimer on the auction page.
Or this: "Ornate gold frame made of manufactured wood, similar to the fabricated conservative values of the politician depicted within."
The framed portrait was commissioned by former Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer, a Crist ally who was forced out of his post earlier this year by conservative activists furious with the party's freewheeling spending habits.
The party, now helmed by state Sen. John Thrasher, said Greer also tapped into donor money to pay for a similar portrait of himself. A Florida GOP spokeswoman said the party spent $7,500 on the two paintings.
"This would be one of many examples of lavish and excessive spending on the backs of RPOF donors that occurred during the Crist/Greer administration at the RPOF," party spokeswoman Katie Gordon Betta told CNN.
Bidding ends on May 10.
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There they go again, behaving like a clique of ticked off teen-age girls.
the repubs really sunk to a new low which i never thought that this
party could ever go any lower but they never surprise me these
scum baggies even want to make money on a painting butt what
these idiots don't understand is that if this painting does well that
doesn't say much for rubio does it
Ornate gold frame made of manufactured wood, similar to the fabricated conservative values of the GOP. This is what it should have said. The GOP and their fake outrage.is so funny. I wish Charlie all the best and hope voters in Florida and all over Vote No to the Palin, Hannity, Limbaugh, Coulter far right, non inclusive, racist Tea Party.
ha! this is funny!! first the republicans got caught with their pants down spending donor donations on stripper and fancy hotels in california; now they are trying to pedal their way out with putting an over priced oil painting on e-bay!! republican party, what a joke.
"Ornate gold frame made of manufactured wood, similar to the fabricated conservative values of the politician depicted within."
Wow, the GOP just keeps regressing more and more every day. This is the sort of behavior I would expect out of a spoiled child or Sarah Palin, not a national party.
Selling the portrait is fine, but the party commentary's is pretty childish. They badly need better staff writers!
Doesn't this painting belong to the 'People of Florida' and in accordance with tradition, rightfully belong housed in the state capitol building along with all the other paintings of Florida Governors? I might be wrong here, but that does not change the fact that this is childish behavior at it's worst. If Crist is as bad a governor (or Republican) as he is made out to be, then leaving his portrait hanging in the capitol would be a reminder of the necessity for vigilance.