Crist Scores Points, If Not Votes, on Oil Drilling Issue

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (July 20) -- So what if Gov. Charlie Crist hasn't held an "official" grass-roots Senate campaign event since May? A 43-minute special session of the Florida Legislature to permanently ban offshore oil drilling -- three months to the day after the BP oil rig exploded -- may yet prove just the thing for the candidate to build his populist platform upon.

Crist, an independent after being shoved from next month's Republican primary by tea party favorite Marco Rubio, called lawmakers to Tallahassee to take up a constitutional amendment to ban offshore oil drilling within 10 miles of the state's shoreline. Democrats cheered the move, but critics, mainly from his old party, said the session was aimed more at burnishing Crist's populist credentials ahead of the November election.

So what was to be a four-day session to decide whether to make ironclad a state law that already bans drilling in Florida waters lasted less than an hour, as the GOP-controlled House voted to "gavel and go" without dealing with the substance of the proposal.

"Everybody gets what they want," said University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato, a close observer of national political figures like Florida's governor. "Crist can claim environmental leadership that will appeal to the moderates he must have to win; Republicans in the Legislature get ample opportunities to target Crist and strengthen Rubio further with the GOP base; and with little or nothing being done, the oil industry will be fine."

Even before the lawmakers filed in from the oppressive July heat inside the 22-story capitol -- where a marble rotunda lists the state nickname (the Sunshine State) and pie (key lime), along with saltwater reptile (loggerhead turtle) and saltwater mammal (dolphin) -- political observers spoke privately of the amendment being dead on arrival.

"Simple solutions designed to produce sound bites, photo ops and political attacks will do nothing to help Floridians," said Republican House Speaker Larry Cretul of Ocala as he opened the session. "We were called here today because of politics."

In lieu of a constitutional amendment, which he said the governor has "no direct authority to propose," Cretul announced the formation of several working groups to address short-term aid to affected Panhandle communities and find ways to streamline recovery and claims processes. The efforts, he said, amounted to "a concrete work plan to provide real aid for those who are most in need," but he predicted they would be "too serious to garner publicity."

'Arrogance of Power'

Minutes after the state Senate also adjourned -- cheerleaders from Florida State University gathered for a photo op in the empty House chamber as the senators debated across the hall -- Crist said, "I can't believe this legislature shirked their duties so badly."

Railing about the lawmakers' "arrogance of power," Crist channeled Harry Truman by calling the lawmakers a "do-nothing legislature" that missed its chance to permanently shield Florida's waters from drilling. "Today was their day. This week was their week. They were supposed to do the right thing, right now."

Earlier, he told a rally of pro-amendment supporters that Floridians deserved to decide an issue critical to a state economy that draws 80 million tourists a year. Wearing a green "Let the People Vote" sticker on his lapel -- a reference to the drilling ban, not his senatorial bid -- Crist said politics had nothing to do with his calling the session.

But afterward, he made clear that politics would now come into play for what he called "the ultimate snub" to voters. Asked if legislators should be held accountable for their decision, he said, "Well, why wouldn't you? They sure didn't do their job. Most people, if they don't show up at work, they do get fired."

But as the House members briefly debated whether to adjourn, it was clear many in the chamber viewed Crist as the one being snubbed.

Rep. John Legg of Port Richey joined other Republicans in calling the session little more than political posturing by the governor and a waste of taxpayer money. "I will not use my office for political gain for other people," he said, agreeing with Cretul that there was no imminent threat of drilling off the coast, given that state law prohibits it.

Noting that Crist favored offshore drilling as recently as two years ago, Republican Rep. Tom Grady of Naples said that while the governor has reconsidered, "the shadow of disasters is not a very good time to make these decisions." He agreed with Cretul that the 2012 election was time enough to put the issue on the ballot and that there is "no good reason not to take our time and be deliberate."

A ballot initiative so soon after the BP crisis would bring out "a lot of people voting on emotion, and I don't think that's healthy for our government," said Republican Rep. Steve Crisafulli of Merritt Island.

While a recent poll showed residents in the more conservative Panhandle still support offshore oil drilling, Democratic lawmakers rose one by one in the packed chamber to beg the body to reconsider leaving without taking action one day after a poll released by environmental groups showed 71 percent of Florida voters want a chance to weigh in on the proposal this November. They noted a vote in that same chamber last year to lift the two-decades-old drilling ban.

"This proposal would be a crucial signal that Florida is not an oil state," said Rep. Keith Fitzgerald. The Sarasota Democrat said that while some may question the governor's motives, lawmakers "should not be dismissive about the people's desire to be heard."

After the motion to adjourn, he shook his head. "They just didn't want to give the governor a victory," he said.

"The people of Florida want to vote on this issue," said Sen. Alex Villalobos, a Cuban-American from Miami and one of the few Republicans to support the amendment. "When politicians are afraid of what the people who put them there will say, that's a problem."

'A Kitchen Table Issue'

Adam Rivera, 27, an environmental activist from Miami, stood dejectedly outside the House chamber minutes after it voted to adjourn. "It's certainly disappointing," he said. "This is a kitchen table issue for Floridians. Our economy, our identity is bound up in our beaches and our coastlines. This will be a huge issue in anybody's campaign."

Crist was considered by some to be the front-runner in the Senate campaign before Tuesday's session, in which he squared off against many in his former party. Most of his support on the drilling ban came from Democrats, whose leading Senate contender, Rep. Kendrick Meek, trails badly against whomever GOP voters choose in the Aug. 24 primary.

Crist will need Democrats and independents in the fall, and despite charges of political posturing, he has used the BP disaster and the appearance of tarballs in Pensacola to show he's tending to the people's business.

As for the truncated special session, it "quickly became political theater -- more emphasis on politics than on policy," said Susan MacManus, a political scientist at the University of South Florida in Tampa. "For the governor, he benefits from shoring up strong support -- and campaign contributions -- from passionate environmentalists and Democrats. It also keeps him in the thick of the oil issue as a crisis manager."

And, if voters in November agree with the heckler who shouted from the House visitors gallery that Republicans were "in the pocket of BP," that can only do one thing, MacManus said. "It will make them look bad and him look good."