Democrats are lashing out at Charlie Crist’s statement Wednesday that he probably would have vetoed insurance legislation that passed in the final hours of this year’s legislative session had he been governor. The bill opened the door to 10 percent rate hikes without state approval, and has led to hikes as high as 70 percent.

The issue dominated the 60-day session, with an army of lobbyists working lawmakers.

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“At no point in this entire battle was Charlie Crist anywhere to be found. He was absolutely AWOL,” Gelber said on a conference call arranged by the Jim Davis campaign. Gelber is the Democrats point-man on insurance reform..
“For him to suggest he would have vetoed it is pretty outrageous,” Gelber said. “Charlie Crist was nowhere when he needed to be standing up and fighting on this issue We could have really used the help, honestly.”

Davis, who trails Crist in the polls but may be gaining, said Crist’s claim to reporters was a sign “we’re on the eve of an election.”
Fighting “the powerful insurance lobby in Tallahassee” is a staple of the Davis campaign. “The attorney general had his chance to stand up and he didn’t. I will as governor,” Davis said.

Reporters traveling with Crist apparently pressed him more today about why he stayed out of the fight. Why, one asked, didn’t he call a news conference to speak out against the bill if he opposed it?
According to one reporter who was there, Crist said, “That’s not my style I’m not a grandstander.”

ORLANDO — Charlie Crist stayed on the sidelines in the spring as legislators debated how to fix Florida’s battered insurance market. Now he’s paying for his silence.
Less than two weeks before the election, Crist says he probably would have vetoed a bill passed by fellow Republicans and signed by Gov. Jeb Bush, who conceded the bill would raise policyholders’ rates.

Democrats, including rival Jim Davis, blasted Crist Thursday, accusing him of failing to lead on an critical issue.
“I’m not a grandstander,” Crist said while campaigning for governor in Orlando, explaining his silence. “The bill didn’t pass until the last night of the session … let’s be fair.”
As attorney general and a Cabinet member, Crist is one of four statewide elected officials overseeing regulation of the insurance industry.

Also included in the 156-page bill, which passed in the final hour of the 2005 legislative session after weeks of negotiation, was a popular new $250-million grant program to help home­owners harden their houses against hurricanes, a $250-million loan program for insurance companies and limited flexibility for insurers to adopt rate increases without state approval.

Later Thursday, Crist backtracked and issued a statement saying he would have supported some parts of the bill, such as grants to help Floridians make their homes more resistant to future hurricanes.
But critics said the last-minute opposition showed Crist’s lack of leadership.
“The attorney general had his chance to stand up and didn’t,” Davis said. “I will as governor.”

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“One person we never saw … was Charlie Crist,” said Bill Newton of the Florida Consumer Action Network, who said Crist’s help would have been useful in a debate dominated by insurance lobbyists. “He was never there in the room on this issue.”
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Asked why he didn’t get involved in negotiations on the insurance bill, Crist, a former state senator, said: “Was there? I’m not in the legislative branch anymore.”
News releases issued by Crist’s office in May show he kept a close eye on bills he considered priorities, such as creation of a cyber crime unit in the Attorney General’s Office and a tougher domestic violence law.