Crist and Rubio take questions after they spoke to the Christian Family Coalition in Miami. Bender/Post

1. No, Gov. Charlie Crist is not giving up his Republican registration. But it’s pretty clear now that he’s decided to promote the independent streak that won him national attention as he built a bipartisan image his first year in office.

2. Speaking of Crist’s first year: With his final State of the State coming on Tuesday, here’s a timely look-back at our coverage of his 2007 speech, when he called for more environmental preservation and a voting paper trail and included a quote from Robert Kennedy:

“For him to get up there and do what he did today, he said: ‘I’m my own man,’ that was a strong message,” said Sen. Victor Crist, R-Temple Terrace, who is not related to the governor. “When he gave his final quote from Robert Kennedy, that was bold, and I watched Speaker Rubio’s face, and I turned to the two House members on either side of me, and I said, ‘Oh-oh.’ “

House Speaker Marco Rubio said Crist’s style has helped improve the tone in Tallahassee. “By far the most optimistic first day of session in the eight I’ve been a part of,” said Rubio, R-West Miami. “I think there is a general tone of cooperation.”

3. By portraying himself as an independent Republican (someone who loves guns, hates taxes and can work across the aisle), Crist is hoping to steal some of the sizzle of Rubio’s image as the anti-establishment candidate. In Broward County, Crist tried to use Rubio’s campaign against him:

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A proposal from President Obama to repeal a ban on gays serving openly in the military — better known as “don’t ask, don’t tell” — has split Florida’s U.S. Senate candidates along party lines.

“We are a nation at war. The governor believes the current policy has worked, and there is no need to make changes.”

–Republican Charlie Crist spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg.

“Marco Rubio supports the current policy and doesn’t see any evidence it needs to be changed.”

–Republican Marco Rubio spokesman Alex Burgos.

“Before the Civil Rights Bill passed, Everett Dirksen told Lyndon Johnson that, ‘This is an idea whose time has come.’ Well this is also an idea whose time has arrived.”

–Democrat Maurice Ferre

“Admiral Mike Mullen’s testimony that repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell comes down to an issue of integrity for citizens in uniform, and for the military as an institution were powerful words of conviction and truth. As a congressional cosponsor of legislation to promote a policy of nondiscrimination in the Armed Forces on the basis of sexual orientation, and having spoken to senior commanders about this issue, the position voiced by the military is a welcome one.”

–Democrat Kendrick Meek

On today’s podcast:

Patrick Ruffini is an online media consultant who most recently helped build the record-breaking fundraising machine for U.S. Sen.-elect Scott Brown, R-Mass. In Florida, Ruffini is supporting Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio. Ruffini predicted last week that Rubio would collect more money than his Republican primary opponent, Gov. Charlie Crist — a legendary campaign fund-raiser, as soon as the first quarter this year.

Ruffini was among the first to flag the upset potential in Brown’s campaign and predicted Rubio’s rise last summer, when few were giving the former Florida House speaker much of a shot. In July, Ruffini said Rubio would make it close race. Now, he tells us that Rubio is going to win.

His op-ed, ‘How Republicans won the Internet’, was published Sunday in the Washington Post.

Former Miami mayor Maurice Ferre is not the young, technologically-savvy candidate that immediately comes to mind when you think about the successful anti-establishment candidates of the past two years (Barack Obama, Scott Brown). But he is positioning himself as the outsider candidate in Florida’s U.S. Senate contest. And with a sitting governor and a House speaker two years removed from office on the Republican side and a sitting U.S. House member as his Democratic opponent, Ferre might have the most legitimate claim to that title.

In our interview, the 74-year-old Ferre criticizes Washington Democrats for trying to push health care reform in one omnibus bill. He said a better approach would be to offer the changes in smaller bills and let Republicans oppose the individual ideas.

Ferre says he’s raised just $100,000 so far $1 million last quarter for his primary opponent, Kendrick Meek), but he’s not worried. He’s focused on Orlando-Kissimmee voters so far and is expecting a big turnout from newly registered Hispanic Democrats.

LISTEN HERE (Or right click on the link to download.)

From Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Maurice Ferre:

“Of course I am for healthcare reform, but this is not the right plan for the working families of Florida.

“This plan was arrived at with unacceptable compromises. It is a special interest plan that raises taxes and favors insurance and pharmaceutical companies. I fear the President has lost sight of his original goal of extending healthcare to all Americans and at the same time controlling healthcare costs.”

Ferre is running in his party’s U.S. Senate primary against U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, who voted for the bill in the House.

Former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, said today that Gov. Charlie Crist’s call for a grand jury investigation into political corruption should be expanded to include the Republican governor, also a Senate candidate.

Ferre cited this story from BrowardBeat.com that Crist may have traded judicial appointments in Broward County in exchange for contributions from disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein to the state Republican party.

Rothstein was arrested today on federal racketeering charges.

“State campaign finance records show a troubling pattern of large contributions from Mr. Rothstein and immediate and subsequent appointments of Judges to the Fourth District Court of Appeals,” said Ferre, a former six-term mayor of Miami. “Is this pattern a coincidence? Could it indicate real corruption in the Judicial nominating process and raise legitimate questions about a possibility of Crist’s integrity and his fitness to govern?”

“Perhaps the U.S. Attorney’s investigation into corruption in South Florida should be expanded to include the Governor’s possible auctioning of judicial appointments in Broward County. We need to know what Charlie Crist knew and when he knew it,” said Ferre.

Meek

Sink, a 2010 candidate for governor, is one of two Dems to hold statewide office in Florida. The other — U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson — hasn’t formally endorsed Meek, but was listed as a host for a Meek fund-raiser in Washington this month that was headlined by former President Bill Clinton.

Meek is the heavy favorite to win the Democratic Senate nomination, but former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre announced this month that he will also run as a Democrat.