Jim Davis this morning kicked off a daylong series of campaign stops, trying to capitalize on Charlie Crist's statement earlier in the week that he "probably would" have vetoed the insurance bill passed by the legislature.

"If the attorney general of the state of Florida won't stand up for homeowners, won't stand up for business owners ... He had his chance and he didn't do it," Davis told about 50 people at a waterfront park in Cape Canaveral.

Davis gave his own take on the "empty chair" ad, twisting the point of the spot (that he has the second worst voting attendance in Congress) to a reflection on his visibility on Terri Schiavo and oil drilling.

"You've all seen the ad, right? The moving chair. He says Davis doesn't sit down in his chair. He's right. I don't sit down in my chair. I never sit down. I am standing up. When the U.S. Congress and George Bush tried to play politics with the tragic life of Terri Schiavo, I stood up. I led the fight. Charlie Crist took the day off. He walked away. ..."

Minutes after Davis left the event, the Republican Party of Florida fired off an e-mail, saying Davis embodied "everything Florida left behind when voters elected a Republican  majority: big government schemes, arbitrary tax increases, lower standards in our schools, and stagnated economic development." The statement included newspaper criticism of Davis' plan to create a $20-billion state insurance pool, covering the first $100,000 in damages. "Davis says he wants to 'stand up' for Florida, but if these are the policies that he plans on implementing, voters will tell him to sit back down."