Will Mismanaging the Everglades Hurt Florida Gov. Charlie Crist?

Florida Governor Charlie Crist has been trying to run as a moderate in his re-election campaign (he's even toyed with running as an independent). He is to the left of the Republican Party on several issues: if nothing else, he thinks the stimulus was a good idea. He's also more gay-tolerant than the GOP as a whole. But Monday, The New York Times ran a story detailing how Crist really screwed up the Everglades restoration project by giving sweetheart deals to sugar cane growers. Said one critic:

"To replace projects that were under way for a possibility of a project decades from now is not a good trade...On a net basis, this appears to me there has been a replacement of science-based environmental policy for photo-op environmental policy."

Sound like something we Dirty Fucking Hippies would say, right? You'll never guess who said it.

Former Republican governor Jeb Bush.

Bush called it a "a setback for restoration" and was "deeply disappointed." My impression has been that, even among the Republican fire-breathing crowd, Everglades restoration is a very popular thing in Florida. If Crist is trying to gain moderate support, this is really going to hurt.