Good grief.

A state lawmaker says Gov. Charlie Crist is picking his former chief of staff George LeMieux to replace Republican Sen. Mel Martinez, who is resigning.

State Rep. Jennifer Carroll, who was considered for the position, said Crist told her he is choosing LeMieux.

By choosing LeMieux, Crist picked the candidate he trusts most to fill out the term that expires in January 2011. That’s when Crist hopes to be sworn in as Florida’s next elected senator. Crist will make the announcement later Friday.

LeMieux ran Crist’s 2006 campaign for governor. Crist then picked LeMieux as chief of staff. He left for a Tallahassee law firm in December 2007.

So LeMieux will keep the seat warm for Charlie. Once his errand boy, always his errand boy.

Remember, Crist said, “I want to be well-represented in the U.S. Senate too.” It’s all about Charlie. LeMieux says he’ll be a “Charlie Crist Republican,” no doubt meaning his first legislation will be a second stimulus followed by cap and trade.

UPDATED: Wow. It’s looking more and more like Crist is shooting himself in the foot.

LeMieux, who is rumored to be aiding the selection process behind the scenes, could cause some controversy, given his close ties to Crist.

Picking him, said Orange County Republican Party Chairman Lew Oliver, “would only be, from a perception perspective, only slightly less damaging than appointing himself.”

Today I am announcing that I will seek re-election in 2010 to a second, and final term in the United States Senate. I need you to join me in our effort today to help ensure that we continue to fight for true reform.

Quite simply, there is still work to be done.

When I first decided to seek public office, it was because I was alarmed by Washington’s desire to impose collectivism and socialism on the public, particularly in the area of health care. Today, we face the very same challenge.

To our founders, America was, and is, an idea that trusts individuals more than the government, and it is an idea that trusts the competition of ideas and the entrepreneurial spirit to produce a more fair and just outcome than the cold calculations of governing elites.

But today many in Washington are claiming that all problems can be solved with more government spending and less individual freedom. Those ideas have never worked and they never will.

Very few leaders are talking honestly about the real causes of our challenges, much less the real solutions. I believe the decisions Washington makes today and in the near future will decide the fate of our republic. In short, I’m running again because I believe America, and future generations, are worth fighting for.

Therefore, the fight continues.

We must work hard to cut the federal deficit and stop the outrageous federal spending spree that is currently going on in Washington.

As a strict Constitutionalist, I also believe we must stand up for Supreme Court nominees who will interpret the law, and stand against those who want to legislate from the bench. One of the greatest threats to our freedom today is Washington’s denial of the limited, enumerated powers granted Congress under our Constitution.

Unless Congress has the specific authority to make a law, I believe it should be up to the states. That’s why our founders wrote the Tenth Amendment. When federal bureaucrats took steps to trump the Second Amendment and criminalize the possession of firearms on certain federal lands I stepped in and successfully defended the right of states to make their own gun laws.

We also need to stand together and resist plans to put politicians and bureaucrats in charge of our health care system. I’ve authored legislation to ensure that every American has access to affordable quality health care that is controlled by the individual rather than government or insurance company bureaucrats.

Oklahomans – and conservatives across the country – deserve to have a reliable voice for smaller government and common sense representing them in the Senate. And now more than ever, we need to fight for the principles of freedom, individual responsibility, and limited government that made America great.

I ran for the Senate because I wanted my children and grandchildren to enjoy the same blessings of freedom and opportunity I’ve enjoyed. America was built on a heritage of service and sacrifice, in which each generation made sacrifices to pass on liberty to the next generation. So much is at stake for our country in this moment in history. I will never tire in this fight, and should people of Oklahoma choose me to carry on in this effort, I will ensure that their conservative values remain represented in DC for the next six years.

Thank you for your continued efforts in our movement.

Does the law allow not counting one vote when others just like it were counted by other counties and cities? Should a person’s vote count depending solely on where he or she lives? Should a contest court disallow votes based on counting rules it adopts but which no Minnesota county or city used on Election Day? Is it right to disallow a vote because the Minnesota Secretary of State’s database wasn’t up-to-date about whether the absentee voter or their witness were really registered?

Is Minnesota a state that seeks to disenfranchise voters, or to count all the legal votes?

That’s why yesterday’s three-judge contest court ruling is so wrong, and why we will appeal.

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Well I’m really flattered. I was headed out of a meeting on the Hill and an unknown number showed up on my cell phone. I usually don’t answer unknown numbers, but I did. I’m glad I did.

The other day I wrote that people in Missouri, including people who had given Steelman large sums for her governor’s race, were calling to tell me she is a jerk.

I verified the people so I know they are who they say they are. I don’t know why they felt the need to call. They know, I’m sure, that I really like Roy Blunt, but they also know, I’m sure, that Roy Blunt and I do not see eye to eye on a lot of fiscal issues. He’s great on life issues and social issues, but he’s not really a fiscal conservative. And I have real issues with that.

So it’s no surprise, I guess, that people would be calling to push me toward Blunt and away from Sarah Steelman, with whom I share many, many common positions.

Anyway, Sarah Steelman was on the phone.

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See this line?

That’d be one hell of an army of activists ready and willing to help in run for Senator from Arkansas next year.

Maybe he’ll do it. He should.