Crist on Florida election result: Anything is possible

>>> we take you down south to florida now who just this weekend declared the president the winner of the elections. what has gone on down south? who better to discuss that than former governor charlie crist . he endorsed president obama , campaigned for him and spoke at the dnc. after playing such a significant role in recent years, the presidential contest was decided this year without florida . everybody certainly plays and campaigns to get the electoral votes from your state. how surprised are you by that?

>> well, i was very pleased by the result. i was just sorry that it took so long. but to get those 29 electoral votes from florida in president obama 's column was a big deal . it was wonderful to have it happen. it felt like that was going to happen toward the end of the campaign. i went to rallies with him in hollywood and orlando and other parts of the state, in tampa, st. petersburg with president clinton . you could feel the passion and the energy on the ground. so the fact that he won it was wonderful. it was a little icing on the cake , like i say, very proud for our president and our florida .

>> let's show everybody. the final vote count in florida shows president obama eking out this slim win. 74,000 of vote victory. but it was the second straight time that he carried the state. it has been solidly republican in the past. do you think florida is more blue or purplish nowadays going forward?

>> it's sort of a purple-blue, if you will. i think that you're right. in past elections, george bush did very well here. but starting with president obama , it's been trending more and more democratic. and i think a lot of that is what's happening in the i-4 corridor. pinellas county , st. petersburg, my home, hillsboro county here in tampa, both went for the president. but more significantly, orange and osceola counties, you had a great turnout of new puerto rico ricans that made a huge difference in this election, with the immigration issue, of course.

>> one thing we need to discuss is the situation in florida . it was an 11-page ballot, to clarify for everybody. long lines that we saw there because people had a lot to consider when going to their polling place . but you were very critical of governor scott there because he refused to extend early voting from eight days to the usual 14. during your time as governor, you did extend early voting . how do you think that florida can use hindsight as 20/20? it seems there is always in modern-day publics and modern-day elections, there's a sticking point with the state of florida .

>> yeah. this really isn't complicated stuff. it's not rocket science . you just apply common sense. you have more early voting days. we used to have 14. they reduced that to eight. they didn't have as many places to vote for early voting . that's an obvious commonsense problem. so you have more. and you do what's right and make sure that you have enough of those early voting days. and if they aren't enough and the lines are long, then you sign an executive order as the chief executive of the state and give people what they deserve, a decent chance to cast their ballot, not have to wait in line, six, seven hours in some cases. i saw in miami gardens and other places in the state, it's not the right thing to do for the people you're supposed to be serving.

>> there is talk, speculation that you could run against scott as a democrat in 2014 . is that a possibility?

>> anything's possible. i'm not ruling anything in or anything out. what i'm focused on is being pleased for president obama , that florida came home for him, that senator nelson won. patrick murphy winning over against allen west on the east coast of the state. and koconsecratkonconcentrating on thanksgiving, christmas and the holidays.

>> you have a full plate. thanks for joining me today. i appreciate it.