From the St. Petersburg Times Sunday:

Gov. Charlie Crist could have appointed a former congressman, a former legislator, a former Jacksonville mayor, a former state attorney general, or even a former U.S. attorney to the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez. Instead, the governor chose his alter ego to keep the seat warm for 16 months as he campaigns for it. He might as well have appointed himself.
Crist’s selection of George LeMieux, his former campaign manager and chief of staff, should come as no surprise. It’s just one more disappointing decision by Crist in recent months that puts his self-interest in going to Washington above the best interests of Floridians.
On his way to padding his record-breaking Senate campaign account, Crist — the onetime environmental governor — has gutted the state’s growth management laws, trashed its water permitting process and walked away from a laudable climate change agenda.
If he was going to pick LeMieux, Crist should have avoided his self-aggrandizing, taxpayer-financed tour over the past two weeks soliciting applications from prominent Republicans in every corner of the state. It was a waste of time and money and disrespectful of longtime public servants such as U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores.

It’s a shame for Florida in the meantime, but Senator LeMieux sure seems like a gift to Rubio.