A great catch from our friend Jim Geraghty in a race we haven’t covered much — the reincarnation attempt of Charlie Crist in Florida. Back in the day, when Crist was Republican, he was the ne plus ultra Republican, including on abortion. Now a Democratic candidate for governor, suddenly he’s the consummate “war on wimmenses” Democrat. In this interview, Crist tells an incredulous interviewer that even though he once insisted that he would sign a law outlawing abortion, he never, never, nevah told a woman what she could or could not do with her body.

Behold, the clearest demonstration of shamelessness:

Jim tallies up the actual score:

There are a lot of Florida Democrats who will probably tell you they care about abortion – er, “abortion rights” or “reproductive rights.” The vast majority of them will, this fall, vote for a manwho, during his 2006 race for governor, told a priest in Pensacola that he would sign a bill outlawing abortions except when the mother’s life was at stake. But then he told an AP reporter that he would only sign such a bill if it included exceptions for rape and incest. Also during that race, Charlie Crist attacked his GOP rival for being pro-choice. And as recently as January 2010, “Crist’s Republican U.S. Senate campaign released a statement saying he would ‘fight for pro-life legislative efforts.’”

Jim predicts that Democrats will applaud with one hand in the race anyway, with the other holding their nose. I’m not quite so sure about that. They would have done so, had Crist gone on television to admit to his previous record and claim that he’d evolved, or even seen the light, as grotesque as that metaphor would be in these circumstances. Shamelessly lying to this extent won’t turn committed Democrats into Republicans, but it’s not going to motivate many outside the core base to turn out for such an obvious political hack. Combine this with the significant GOP trend in the midterm race, and I’m not so sure that Florida Democrats will be happy to see Crist at the top of their ticket in November.