Former Gov. Charlie Crist offers sound advice to lawmakers in his Jan. 28 op-ed, “In Florida and Washington, put people over politics.”

However, Crist’s words today seem to be a departure from his actions as governor, when some of his decisions appeared to be based on what was “good for the politician” at the time.

For example, Crist did not appear to be putting people over politics in 2010 when he vetoed critical funding for Gainesville‘s Shands Medical Center, which treats poor, uninsured patients. Shands had received funding from Democratic and Republican lawmakers for three decades. What’s more, in January of that year, Crist himself recommended the very funding he vetoed in June.

So what changed? Crist never gave a convincing response, but observers speculated it might have had something to do with Florida House Speaker (and Gainesville representative) Larry Cretul’s endorsement of Crist’s opponent, Marco Rubio.

Thankfully, Republicans and Democrats put people over politics and for the first time in 12 years, convened to override Crist’s veto — unanimously.

Apparently, two years as a private citizen has been enough time for former Gov. Crist to discover the importance of putting people over politics. Good for him.

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