Liberal Dan Gelber Attacks Rick Scott and Looks Ahead to 2014

Former state Sen. Dan Gelber, best known for being the Democratic attorney general who lost to Pam Bondi in 2010, is slamming Gov. Rick Scott for accepting campaign contributions from Heritage Property Insurance and Casualty Insurance -- and raising his own profile in the process.

Gelber sent Scott a letter on Friday demanding the governor return $110,000 in contributions from Heritage which is generating more than $50millionas it takes on policies held by state-backed Citizens Property Insurance. In March, Heritage contributed to Lets Get to Work, a PAC which has ties to Scott. For their part, the governor and his team deny having anything to do with the deal.

Despite losing to Pam Bondi by 14 percent in 2010, Gelber is somehow alive politically -- which shows how shallow the Democratic bench is in Florida. Since his loss, Gelber has remained politically active and has been probably the most vocal supporter of Charlie Crist joining the Democrats. Theres even speculation that Gelber could wind up on the Democratic ticket for 2014, either as attorney general (though why he is entitled to a rematch against Bondi after losing 55 percent to 41 percent is a bit of a mystery) or as Crists lieutenant governor candidate.

Gelber is, in fact, a natural choice for Crist as a running mate. Unlike the governor who has been all over the place in his political career as a Republican, a no-party affiliate and, now, a Democrat, Gelber is a liberal Democrat based in South Florida. Liberal Democrats may have their suspicions of Crist but Gelber isclearlyone of them.

Having been crushed by Bondi, Gelber could make something of a political comeback as Crists understudy. Make no mistake -- Gelber is one of the most ambitious Democrats in the state. Having led Democrats in the Florida House after winning a fourth and final term in the 2006 elections, Gelber ran for the state Senate in 2008 and won a seat. He promptly started exploring the idea of running for the U.S. Senate in 2010 but when Kendrick Meek jumped in, Gelber set his sights on running for attorney general. Over the course of basically a four-year period, Gelber ran for four different offices. Just like Crist -- who never bothered to seek re-election for any of the three statewide offices hes held -- Gelber has a tendency to promptly look around for a new political opening. Certainly Gelber is showing no hesitation in playing the attack dog, a traditional role for the running mate. In any case, Gelbers letter is generating some attention his way.