Lesson Learned?

After jumping onto the Hoffman bandwagon at the last minute, Tim Pawlenty now says he regrets getting involved. And Mike Huckabee, also a last-minute convert to Hoffman, now says GOPers shouldn't support third-party candidates. Even so, there's little evidence that the Hoffman loss has dimmed the influence of the party's conservative wing. To wit:

-- Charlie Crist, well aware he's the next target of conservatives, tells CNN that he "didn't endorse" the stimulus, but just "understood that it was going to pass" and "wanted to be able to utilize it" for FL. Really?!? Seems like there would have been subtler ways of doing that than, oh, sharing a stage with Pres. Obama and declaring that the stimulus was about "reigniting our economy." You don't need to be an award-winning media consultant to turn these images into devastating ads. In fact, the Club For Growth just announced this a.m. that they'll be going up w/ads attacking Crist's support for "Barack Obama's spending program."

-- And, in IL, the fact that Mark Kirk is hustling for Sarah Palin's endorsement suggests he's wary of being Dede'd as well. But does a guy who's trying to hang Rezko and Blago around the necks of his Dem foes really want to be saddled w/a polarizing figure of his own?

-- The good news for Kirk: His primary is less than 3 mos. away. Crist, meanwhile, has got another 10 mos. of this song and dance.