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Please Governor, Don't Pick A Whack Job. Is That Too Much To Ask?

Now that Charlie Crist is getting everything in order in case new BFF John McCain decides to make him his number two, I'm starting to get a little worried about his Florida Supreme Court picks.

Before Charlie made his swoon, I actually thought he's been a pretty good Governor. And I still think that.

But then he starts having BBQ with McCain in Sedona, taking that wrinkly old dude out to the Everglades, and the next thing you know he reverses himself and now supports drilling off our beaches. Worse yet, he's even getting married! Talk about desperate.

I don't mind a middle-of-the-road Republican, just not some nasty partisan pick to prove yourself to Poppa McCain. The DBR has more on the selection process:

Applicants for the two high court vacancies include some with obvious political connections, starting with 1st District Court of Appeal Judge Clay Roberts.

He was Crist's chief deputy in the attorney general's office and one of his first judicial appointments after becoming governor. Roberts ! also was the top legal adviser to then-Secretary of State Katherine Harris during the 2000 presidential election recount.

Another is 2nd District Court of Appeal Judge Charles Canady, a former Republican legislator and congressman who was a House manager in ex-President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial. He later served as Jeb Bush's legal adviser.

Then there's former Republican state Rep. Dudley Goodlette, who was legal adviser to the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, and another former Jeb Bush legal adviser, Frank R. Jimenez, who also was on President Bush's recount team during the 2000 election dispute. Jimenez most recently was the Navy's top civilian lawyer.

Most of Crist's appointments to the Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission have solid Republican credentials.

They include State Board of Education member Kathleen Shanahan, a former chief of staff for Jeb Bush when he was governor; commission chairman Robert Hackleman, who served! on Crist's transition team; Jason Unger, once a lawyer for the Florid a Republican Party and husband of Jeb Bush's 2002 re-election campaign manager; and Howard Coker, an early Crist campaign supporter.

Crist delayed accepting the Cantero and Bell resignations until June when the terms of three Bush-appointed commissioners expired.

He then named Shanahan, a non-lawyer, and two attorneys, Martin Garcia and Katherine Ezell. That brought Crist's appointees to six, a clear majority.

Ok, it could be worse. Keep your fingers crossed.

Full post as published by South Florida Lawyers on August 08, 2008 (boomark / email).