Charlie Crist's Position On Gay Adoption

Charlie Crist's exchange with the media provided the usual feel good spin. Crist was asked for his position on gay adoption. To say his response was vague is an understatement.

Q: Do you support Sen. Nan Rich’s bill banning the ban on gay adoptions?

A: I’d have to see the full language on it, but I feel the same way as I have before.

Q: What is that?

A: The way I felt before. You going to come to the (Christmas) tree lighting?

Rich filed a bill last year to end the ban on gay adoption. She will file the bill again in the upcoming session.

"We need to get rid of it," Rich said. "However it gets done, we need to protect children."

The Miami Circuit Court decision proclaiming the ban on gay adoption unconstitutional is headed for future legal challenges. So what is Crist position?

This is from a 2006 radio interview Crist did with Jim Defede.

"Haven't taken a position yet," Crist told DeFede.

"Not thought about it one way or the other?" DeFede asked.

"Not extensively," Crist replied. "I haven't reached a conclusion, is what I said."

Later on Friday, when asked to clarify his position, Crist backed away from his radio comments. He told the St. Petersburg Times that he does not support repealing the adoption ban.

"My position is the traditional family is the best to adopt," Crist said.

He called the two sets of statements a "nuance" and said that the issue of gay adoption "is not a major focus of my campaign."

Crist's position in 2006 implied he would rather not take a position. Crist wasn't kidding when he said, "I feel the same way as I have before." Unfortunately for Crist, the issue isn't going to disappear. Crist reminds me of the character Mayor Tommy Carcetti from The Wire. Carcetti let the schools and police department go broke because acknowledging the problem would hurt his chances of becoming Governor. When Carcetti is presented with a political crisis, he issues a cover up and demands the his underlings fall on their swords. Look at Florida going broke and ask yourself if Crist isn't thinking about running for president in 2012.

Mayor Carcetti's courageous leadership in action.