Luncheon Speaker Charlie Crist Gave New Meaning to the Term 'Winging It'

Let Charlie out of his cage and he's flailing like a lost canary.

That was some luncheon speech the Democratic gubernatorial candidate treated trial lawyers to Wednesday at the posh Coconut Grove Ritz-Carlton.

Apparently Charlie figured he was among friends at the Miami-Dade Justice Association fundraiser, so who needs to talk policy?

For their fat campaign checks, Charlie gave lawyers a full complement of the kind of gems that, well, make him so gosh-darn lovable. Never mind his vision for Florida, they learned this about the candidate instead:

His favorite movie is "Philadelphia."

His book costs $25 ("I think it'll make you laugh, but it might make you cry").

He just received a check from Steven Spielberg.

He knows why lawyers love the law. It's "because when you can actually right a wrong, it's really an amazing thing."

He can't believe Gov. Rick Scott didn't take the high-speed rail money ("I'm like, 'what was that about?'").

He doesn't think the governor understands transportation problems because he rides around "in his helicopter" instead of driving on the freeways. ... Not that there's anything wrong with helicopters. "Some of you might have one. God bless you if you do. And if you do, we'd like to use it during the campaign."

From donors, he only wants a dollar. "Please go to CharlieCrist.com and give me $1," Or ... wait! He's running against a $100 million fortune. "So give me the one, and if you want to give a little more that's between you and the Big Guy. And then we'll get your email, and it's free, we can communicate."

There's more. It was weird. Read the full story in the Miami New Times.As reporter Trevor Bach said in his Thursday story, for more than half an hour "... the rail-thin, perma-tanned former governor, wearing a tie and shirt as clean and white as his hair, seemed to employ what might best be called a stream-of-consciousness speech model."

Charlie the Republican was known for his flip-flops; Charlie the Democrat may be better known for his flops.