Gov. Crist not talking much about Senate run
KEY WEST (AP) – Gov. Charlie Crist wants to be the next U.S. senator from Florida, but he doesn’t want to talk about it much.
Since announcing his candidacy last Tuesday, he’s avoided questions about federal issues before and after official events as governor. At a major party fundraiser in Key West, the normally accessible governor refused interview requests on the Senate race during his day and a half of fishing and mingling with people who spent $5,000 to $25,000 to join him.
And even Crist’s Senate Web site, which came online Saturday, is void of any mention of federal issues.
But the governor can still boost his Senate campaign even if he stays mum about it, because wherever he goes he can use his current job to draw a crowd and TV cameras. Like Friday, when he visited a Miami middle school and gave a warm speech about education in honor of teacher appreciation week before traveling to Biscayne National Park to return Patsy the manatee to the wild.
Both were convenient stops on his way to the Key West, and he was happy to talk about teachers and manatees.
“It’s an amazing experience. It really is and it says so much about Florida. It’s what Florida is all about,” he told a television reporter after the manatee release. “They’re such docile, gentle creatures and they represent our state and the environment and the concern we all have for it. It’s a great day.”
But when he was asked about the Senate race or federal issues, the answers were either short and insignificant or the questions weren’t answered at all.
A newspaper reporter asked Crist before the Palmetto Middle School event what he thinks about waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning that’s widely considered torture and part of an ongoing debate in Washington.
“I think I’m focused on education today,” Crist replied. “I appreciate the question, but I think it’s important that while we’re at this school, we appreciate the teachers that are working so hard for Florida’s children.”
The day before, at a hurricane conference, he was asked about the Senate run and responded, “I’m really here to talk about the hurricanes.”
An exception came on Friday during the school event when he was asked about the $787 billion stimulus package that he promoted with President Barack Obama. Asked if the appearance with Obama would come back to haunt him, considering that the package was widely opposed by Republicans, Crist said, “No, I don’t think so.
“I think it’s very important that Florida’s taxpayers’ dollars that have gone to Washington come back to Florida to help our students, to help our schools and that’s exactly why I did it,” Crist added. “It’s a very pragmatic approach and I think it’s important and it’s going to help our state.”
The fishing trip was originally billed as the annual Charlie Crist Fishing Trip, an event that’s been held as a major fundraiser for several years. But since the event brings in corporate donations, it was renamed the Republican Party of Florida Fishing Trip because as a Senate candidate, Crist can’t take corporate money under federal law.
Other than the name change, little else was different. Crist addressed major donors at a poolside reception Friday night, went out fishing on Saturday and then mingled with party supporters at a fish fry Saturday evening. Perhaps the biggest difference created by Crist’s Senate announcement was the party had to reprint shirts they gave to donors to reflect the new name.