Former Gov. Charlie Crist -- who left the Republican party in 2010 after being overtaken in the U.S. Senate primary by Marco Rubio to continue his bid with no party affiliation -- told Chuck Todd of MSNBC that he would be open to backing President Barack Obama in November and would consider running for office down the road as a Democrat.

First Read has the former governor’s answer when asked if he was thinking about backing Obama:

“Consider? Sure, I would consider that,” said Crist. “I really think he’s sincere and genuine. I think we have a lot of time, a lot of issues to talk about, but I think, in his heart, he’s trying to do what’s right for the country overall.”