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After stimulus denial, can the governor regain his game?

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By JOE O'NEILL

Tribune correspondent

Published: November 18, 2009

"I didn't endorse it."

That, of course, is what Gov. Charlie Crist said a fortnight ago about the federal stimulus package, a sizable chunk of which enabled him to balance Florida's budget. It's possible Crist doesn't even believe that himself. Nobody else does.

Crist has a well-earned reputation for being nice and a well-crafted reputation for being "moderate." His political game is feel-good populism and unfettered cheerleading. He loves Florida. We know that because he's always reminding us. But now Crist - as illustrated in the aforementioned quote - is off his credibility and charm-offensive game. It hasn't cost him yet, but it could.

Voters, even the easily seduced, the chronically gullible and the political pragmatists, know the difference between a smile and a smirk.

Service with a smile

Recall how the governor got here.

Since Crist, as a state senator, agreed to take one for the team and run as a cheery sacrificial lamb against Bob Graham in 1998, his political career has been ascendant. Fast forward from commissioner of education to attorney general to governor.

He mouthed just enough conservative platitudes, smiled that winning populist smile, maxed out on the "Chain Gang Charlie" moniker, bid "good riddance" to State Farm, managed to be governor when no hurricanes wreaked havoc and availed himself of enough stimulus money to buy time during a ravaging recession.

Over time, however, it has become increasingly apparent that Crist is both authentically pleasant as well as genuinely duplicitous when it comes to ideology.

Crist has morphed from heavyweight moderate to empty-suited chameleon of self-interest.

It's been enough of a revelation to at least slow down Crist's seemingly seamless transition from governor to U.S. senator. It's been enough to encourage Marco Rubio, otherwise lacking in name recognition and money, to take him on in a GOP primary.

And it's been enough to prompt the national media to weigh in about pragmatism, ideology, the Sunshine State's microcosmic proxy war and the possibility of Jeb Bush playing kingmaker.

Although Crist still maintains large leads in the polls and in fundraising, Rubio has been gaining, attracting a following of county-level GOP activists and conservative true believers.

Crist just wants to float above the fray as the "people's governor" who would make a dandy "people's senator."

But if it's one thing that tends to annoy the "people," it's being manipulated. It's being taken for granted and played for fools. If you publicly campaign - from appearing on national talk shows to lobbying key members of Florida's congressional delegations - for the $787 billion federal stimulus bill pushed by President Barack Obama and passed by Congress and yet deny any endorsement, you will be called on it.

What he should have said

The stimulus issue should have been vintage Crist. He should have hit it out of the ballpark. As in:

"Of course I endorsed the stimulus bill. Indeed, that was me with the president on that Fort Myers stage. I wasn't taking any chances.

These are, we all know, uniquely troubled economic times, and you don't have to be the Second Coming of John Maynard Keynes to see that a stimulus and deficit-spending stopgap was necessary to prevent an economic freefall. So, sure, I endorsed the stimulus bill.

"And I meant it when I said this was 'not about partisan politics. This is about rising above that, helping America and reigniting our economy.'

"But, no, that doesn't mean that I also endorse big government intervention across the board. Hardly. What's critical is understanding that I also endorse creating jobs and saving jobs, including those of teachers. That I also endorse continuing to help unemployed Floridians. That I also endorse balancing a budget without doing it on the backs of hardworking Floridians. That has everything to do with why we wanted more than $15 billion in stimulus dollars for Florida in the first place.

"Look, I am the day-to-day governor of Florida, not some accountability-challenged candidate free to glibly play the ideology card in the abstract. And I am a pragmatist. I'll take common sense and the vested interest of Florida over cherry-picked ideology every time.

"For this governor, Florida will always come first. Others, I acknowledge, including many in the Republican Party, may differ. Well, they're not the governor of Florida. I yield to no one in doing what's best for this state. And I'm confident that the people of Florida will endorse these priorities."

Joe O'Neill can be contacted at www.opinionstogoonline .com or moesez@aol.com.

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