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Crist avoids taking stands on major issues

A s the first Hispanic elected mayor of Miami, I remember well the pride that my victory gave the Puerto Rican -- and indeed the broader Hispanic -- community. I believe it marked the political maturity of Miami and underscored the strength of our diversity and multiculturalism.

Now, America is poised to confirm our first Hispanic Supreme Court justice, Sonia Sotomayor. Yet, with this historic nomination pending, Gov. Charlie Crist, who deigns to be our U.S. senator, delayed until the last minute to tell Florida voters whether he would vote for or against Sotomayor's confirmation. Floridians deserve better.

``I'll take a look at it,'' Crist said when asked in May to comment on Sotomayor's nomination. Two months later, he told The Miami Herald he's been too busy being governor to make a decision and didn't intend to any time soon. ``I don't feel pressure,'' he said.

Democrats likely to get a boost from Sonia Sotomayor pick

Caller after caller to a radio show popular in Central Florida's booming Puerto Rican community gushed Tuesday over President Barack Obama's decision to nominate one of their own to the nation's highest court.

Even the Republicans.

''I thought partisan lines would prevail, but they did not,'' said the show's host, Fernando Miguel Negron, who endorsed Obama last year but has supported Republican candidates. ``There's a saying in Puerto Rico that our coffee may be sour, but it's our coffee, and I think that's what it is in a nutshell. People may disagree with some of her views but they can identify with her.''

Crist not consistent on judge nominees

``W ho are you pandering to? And why now?'' demands the Florida Democratic Party of Gov. Charlie Crist 's opposition to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

Marco Rubio, the upstart Republican challenging Crist for U.S. Senate, scoffs that the governor's stance belied his own record.

Are these responses just negative knee jerks by political rivals? Absolutely. Is Crist making a calculated political gesture as he seeks higher office? Sure looks like it.

Florida's GOP tries to put on unified front at Orlando rally

Florida Republicans sought to present a unified front Saturday in hopes of quelling scattered discontent with Gov. Charlie Crist, potential blowback over his U.S. Senate appointment and a party spending scandal.

Before the party meeting got under way, Crist had called the top three Republican officials in each of Florida's 67 counties to get their feedback on replacing the retiring U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez. Some activists appreciated the outreach, while others said the governor is merely trying to shore up support in his own party for his Senate campaign in 2010.

``We are ready to win, and we have one team with one fight,'' Crist told hundreds of Republican activists at the Gaylord Palms Hotel & Convention Center. ``The fight is not among us. The fight is with the Democrats.''

South Florida Puerto Ricans savor Sonia Sotomayor's nomination

When Nydia Menéndez, president of the Florida Puerto Rican Bar Association, received an e-mail from Gov. Charlie Crist's Senate campaign stating he would not support the Supreme Court confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, she immediately started shooting e-mails to friends, to family, to anyone who would listen.

Her message: ``He lost my vote.''

``I was incensed,'' said Menéndez, a Hollywood-based attorney who was born in New York and raised by Puerto Rican parents.