And I like this guy.

Can he do something about Disney though?

This seems a case where the ACLU should back off for now. They score a major victory with a Republican and threaten to damage it in the eyes of so many voters. Can you imagine the backlash of fighting for molesters and murderers in an election for state office? Hard-liners will replace centrists and the Rodriguez's of Florida will again be shut out of the vote. Life isn't fair, don't make it worse.

I went into this already over at War Room, so I won't repeat myself too much here. But I will say it's nice after the last six years to show the rest of the country that we are really a purple state, not a red state. That we are not a bunch of crabby old New Yorkers in condos, as portrayed in "Seinfeld." We are not a bunch of almost-dead union retirees from Ohio, as Jimmy Breslin once described us.

As for Disney, well, there's always sinkhole season. We're having a drought and the hurricane predictions are for plenty of storms. Plenty of rain atop dried-out karst formations, and it's amazing what goes down the holes!

Crist gets my kudos, if not my support (I live far from Florida), for this step.

Not only is it the right thing to do from a moral perspective, it's likely a supremely practical way of making steps towards reassimilation of the convicted felons into "normal" society.

The more of a stake in the society around them people have, the less likely they are to commit more crimes in the future. It may be only a first incremental step, true, still, that first step is the most important.

It's axiomatic. It's a Willie Horton moment.

I've been living in Tallahassee for the past 5 years--just missed election debacle 2000, but lived through Terri Schiavo and the second dose of Jeb's autocratic, bullying ways--and we can hardly believe our luck.

I know quite a few folks in the legislature and various liberal lobbying groups, and, by all accounts, Charlie's for real: ambitious, no doubt, but a guy who is more interested in working for people than for the powerful, and who is willing to risk alienating the traditional Republican power base in the interest of justice and fairness. This is just another in a string of surprising and refreshing choices Governor Crist has made since taking office only a few months ago--from his refusal to have the racist state song ('Way Down Along the Suwanee River') played at his inauguration to his swift and fair settlement of the Martin Lee Anderson case (an African-American boy beaten to death ON CAMERA in a juvenile rehabilitation 'boot camp'--a case that Jeb deliberately dragged his feet over so he could leave it on Charlie's desk), Charlie has everyone in Tallahassee walking around wondering if we've died and gone to heaven.

Charlie isn't just a 'new Republican'--he's a new kind of politician, like Mark Warner was for Virginia: a person who understands that the best way to succeed is to do the right thing, and who refuses to let partisanship interfere with progress.

We're still a long ways from Utopia down here, but compared to what Floridians have had to live through for the past eight years, we are justifiably excited to have a Governor who is bringing fairness and respect back to our much maligned state.

Thanks, Charlie!! You da Man!!

It was the right thing to do.

First, it is a mistake to assume that every convicted felon is some evil child rapist, murderer, drug dealing weasel or other form of such lowlife that they should never have a voice in our politics. Many of these people were caught up in the wrong place, possibly innocent or just made a bad mistake for which their sentence should be considered adequate pennance. Had someone who was'nt the vice president of the US had a few too many and recklessly shot his friend in the face on a hunting trip he would have been charged and likely convicted with a felony. Yet, while Bubba may go to jail, the Veep goes on the radio to assert more nefarious crimes like the Saddam Al Quaida connection.

It was the right thing to do. Criminal prosecution is not just about punishment but rehabilitation. The last thing it is about is carving the mark of Cain on people and condemning them to a stateless existence. If a man or woman does wrong they should make amends and if possible rehabilitate themself. Once that is accomplished by the terms of the state they deserve to be welcomed back to society, and the right of the franchise is the most basic of rights entitled to anyone, whether a law abiding citizen or a rehabilitated and punished felon.

BTW: Don't assume all felons vote Democratic. Most I know (and I know alot of felons) are conservative and would have voted for Bush.

The real message here, and the one we should pay the most attention to, is that there really are Republicans who say what they mean and mean what they say. And a Republican like Crist was not afraid to espouse his principles in his campaign and to follow through once elected. In a time when the GOP has been undermined by the worst of liars, cheats, scoundrels and scalawags, Crist offers a new hope for what alot of Republicans really believe their party once stood for; principles and the honest conviction to follow through on them. Good for him.

As a long-time observer and participant in Florida politics, I've always known that Charlie Crist was as phony as a three-dollar bill in how he's portrayed himself in running for office.

HOWEVER, it appears that Phony Charlie was faking it all this time so that when he got elected as Governor (a job he's been running for for years, including his entire term at Attorney General), he could actually be a decent guy. The anti-Jeb(!) if you will. Now THAT I would never have guessed.

Kudos to Charlie.