CHARLIE CRIST MOVES TO CLEAN UP FLORIDA POLITICS FROM THE BUSH STENCH

A little Florida catch-up. Last we left moderate Republican Charlie Crist he had weathered the exposes of his closeted gay life, and then gone on to be elected governor at the same time that Florida voters were massively defeating bribetaking, far right nut-case Katherine Harris in her bid for a Senate seat. Crist has gone from fending off stories about gay prostitutes to a paternity case. But he's also earned high marks for moving Florida politics back towards the mainstream.

Jeb Bush may have been personally popuar but he was also a far right extremist in his politics. And Crist has moved to clean the state up after Bush's two divisive terms. This weekend Charlie Crist's handpicked candidate for state party chairman, a moderate like himself, Jim Greer, defeated Bush's far right hold-over, loony Carole Jean Jordan, 102-89.

And Crist's attempt to govern from the center in a more bipartisan fashion than the rightist Bush has not gone unnoticed by the state's Democrats. "Democrats are still shellshocked by the way Crist included them in the recent negotiations on insurance reform and adopted some of their big-government solutions. He invited two Democratic lawmakers to join him in a statewide tour Friday when he signed the bill. 'It's harder for us to be the opposition party when he keeps doing things we like,' said state Rep. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach, who attended the bill-signing ceremonies. Even Republicans admit that Crist's insistence on lowering insurance rates forced them to become more consumer-friendly and turn away from the business interests favored by the former governor. Many of Bush's recommendations were rejected."

A leading State House Democrat-- who helped push through Crist's insurance legislation in last week's special session-- told Ron Grunzburger that "Charlie is the best Democratic Governor we've had since LeRoy Collins."