florida-senate

UPDATED Former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman has been quietly gauging support for a potential run for chairman of the Republican National Committee. Coleman, who lost his re-election bid to Al Franken (D) by the slimmest of margins, has been meeting in private with “multiple high-level GOP officials” in the past month, Politico reports. Politico’s Jonathan Martin sought comment from Coleman about his potential interest in the job — now held by embattled RNC chief Michael Steele — but the Minnesota Republican declined to offer specifics.

One of the Republican Party’s most respected and relied-upon consultants has serious reservations about two the party’s biggest names. Alex Castellanos, a conservative media strategist and regular presence on CNN, raised questions of Sarah Palin’s viability for office and took major swipes at Florida Senate candidate Charlie Crist during an appearance at Bloomberg News’ Washington Summit Thursday. The harshest lines were saved for Crist, who Castellanos said was not really a Republican.