CRIST FOR THE MILL

Good old Charlie Crist. If you watch political developments, you may already be tired of Florida's governor because of all the media attention his plans have gotten; he is now an independent candidate for U.S. senator, having thrown over the GOP after it threw him over. Still, he is worth discussing:

"Crist" is a shortened version of something Greek. He is 53, slim, silver-haired, photogenic. He is likeable. He projects sincerity. Floridian Ron Gunzberger, who runs the Politics1 website, says he's a nice guy, and that's how he comes across.

(Only three people of Greek ancestry have made a splash in our national politics till now: Spiro Agnew, Michael Dukakis, and Paul Tsongas. They were nothing like one another, and Crist is nothing like any of them; so Greek pols aren't readily stereotyped.)

Charlie has taken conservative positions over the years but seems moderate at heart. That, of course, is what did him in with the Repubs. As governor he was popular from the beginning with the electorate, but more so with Dems than with Repubs. A lot of Dems are behind him for senator now, too.

Gunzberger, who is gay and gossipy, has published reports that Crist is gay. There are people who say they know he is. When he was on John McCain's shortlist for a runningmate, Crist quickly married a socialite, a very timely move. If you're a male in American politics, it pays to have a wife - as long as it's a woman.

Is Crist gay? Who cares? For all we actually know, he may be as hetero as Bill Clinton; but look at the situation impersonally for a moment. Think about having to marry a woman in order to be politically viable, particularly if what you actually want is to live with or marry a man.

And look at the hypocrisy of the right-wing pols, the "wide stance" types, who denounce homosexuality as immoral and loudly oppose same-sex marriage while having sex with men. There has been a lot of that.

Conservatism mandates hypocrisy. If you aren't in the favored group, it makes you pretend you are and denounce those who are actually like yourself. It has you voting against your own interests. Liberals accept people as who they are and don't require them to pretend to be something they aren't. This is a difference between the two worldviews, and it is a moral difference.

Whether Charlie Crist is gay or straight or bi or asexual, he has to worry about which of those he seems. Thank the righties for injecting that kind of thing into our politics.

Opportunistic positioning aside, Crist now has the opportunity to stand wherever he really wants to stand on the issues, which appears to be in the middle. He has shown that he can get people, except right-wingers, with him.

If centrist political independents choose to band together and strengthen one another by forming a new party, his experience and attractiveness would be a gift to that effort.

Throw in a Tom Ridge and a Colin Powell and a Lincoln Chafee and an Arnold Schwarzenegger and an Olympia Snowe and a Susan Collins and a Jon Huntsman, all appealing refugees from the GOP, and the movement would have a number of instantly credible top leaders and advisors as well as a potential presidential candidate or two. Something to keep thinking about - as I keep saying.

A Jon Huntsman-Charlie Crist ticket, by the way, could make that new party a winner or a near winner its first time out and could leave the GOP in the dust. (I'm saying I find Huntsman more impressive than Crist. You may disagree.)