Gov. Charlie Crist is facing his first challenge from the right flank over felon rights restoration, only it's not Marco Rubio in the ring. It's the guy who took his old job.
At issue is Crist's special meeting of the Clemency Board (i.e. Florida Cabinet) Thursday to stop automatically denying most felons who have served their time from the right to vote, serve on juries and get occupational licenses.
Both men have published dueling op-eds, in which Crist made his case for reforming Florida's Jim Crow-era clemency process and Attorney General Bill McCollum called automatic restoration "reckless and irresponsible."
On Wednesday, McCollum's office sent out letters from the Florida Narcotic Officers Association, which is against the concept.
McCollum even pulled out a page from Crist's playbook, releasing letters from citizens opposed to the move.
Catherine Perry of New Port Richey argued her husband was a better man because he had gone through the years-long process of getting his civil rights restored.
"Why do we want to change processes that are not broken for those felons who are not committed to changing their lifestyles?" she wrote.
This is an interesting change of costume for "Chain-Gang Charlie," and it's been clear for months that conservatives in the Capitol aren't exactly thrilled with some of the governor's populist positions.
But McCollum is the first to give that sentiment a voice.
Crist's office hit back Wednesday night with a letter from former U.S. senator and vice-presidential nominee Jack Kemp, who proclaimed "Florida has a civil and voting rights challenge."
"It is a matter of simple fairness that once a person has completed his or her entire sentence, he or she should have their rights restored. This strengthens our democracy," Kemp wrote, adding that along with Kentucky and Virginia "Florida stands alone in permanently disenfranchising ex-offenders for life."
McCollum replied again Thursday morning with another letter from Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell, president of the Florida Sheriffs Association, who wrote Crist's plan "makes little sense" for felons to get their civil rights back "without ever demonstrating their desire and ability to become productive members of society."
Those are strong words from a law enforcement community that flocked to Crist's campaign last year.
Thursday, we'll see how far McCollum wants to take this first rebel cry from the regrouping conservative wing.