When a hug becomes a kiss of death

Will Charlie Crist suffer the fate of NJ Gov. Jon Corzine?

From POLITICO:

The Republican governor is being bombarded with images of him hugging President Barack Obama when he was in Florida to pitch his $787 billion economic stimulus plan earlier this year.

In just the past two weeks, that hug has appeared in an ad by the conservative Club for Growth attacking Crist, in a Democratic National Committee e-mail highlighting his recent assertion that he actually didn't "endorse" the stimulus bill and in headlines all over Florida, including one Wednesday that read: "Charlie Crist needs to figure out a way to undo a hug."

It will only get worse.

"These kinds of images can be deadly," said Republican strategist Mark McKinnon. "Circumstances and context don't matter. People impose their own meaning and interpretations. And it's impossible to undo."

When a hug becomes a kiss of death - Carol E. Lee - POLITICO.com