Charlie Crist could barely walk through the crowd without stopping to greet, hug and mug for pictures.
Democratic activists packing the Disney convention hotel Saturday at their state conference flocked to the former Republican governor.
Crist was loose and chatty. He threw his arms around Nan Rich, of Weston, his likely Democratic governor’s race rival. He clowned around with Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
An aide tried to move him along at one point. Crist was more than 30 minutes late for a meeting with party bigwigs. Crist demurred.
“This is more important,” he said, leaning in to hug yet another white-haired lady.
If Crist, the formerly self-described Ronald Reagan Republican, faces hurdles uniting his new party for another gubernatorial run, there was little sign of it among the more than 1,000 Democratic activists gathered.
“People say to me all the time, ’Yeah, but what about the activists and Crist?’ ” said Bob Poe, former state party chairman, who only a few years ago blasted Crist in press release after press release.
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