Crist Names Aide to Senate

Florida Governor Charlie Crist has appointed his former campaign manager and chief of staff to fill the Senate seat of Mel Martinez, MSNBC reports. George LeMieux will represent the state until next year's election, when Crist himself will vie for the GOP nod. “George is bright, capable, and an accomplished administrator," Martinez says. Dems have a dimmer view: “Charlie Crist came as close as he could to appointing himself to this position,” says the party's Senatorial Campaign Committee. (More Mel Martinez stories.)