Gov. Charlie Crist got into the spirit of Aventura Nov. 25 by touching all the stereotyped buttons in the City of Excellence.

He brought some pre-Thanksgiving greetings and played piano for elderly residents of the The Sterling, an assisted living center on 183^rd Street.  For video, go to: http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2009/11/crist_visits_with_seniors_on_t_1.html

Crist and his wife, Carole Rome, went shopping at Bloomingdale’s in Aventura Mall where a Miami Herald reporter just happened to snap their picture (and then blogged snidely that security held the purchases while the couple strolled off hand in hand and suggested he should have been working. For that post, see http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2009/09/the-crists-bloomies-binge.html)

And his office in Tallahassee released an executive order moving the date of a special Congressional election to fill Robert Wexler’s Boca Raton-based seat to avoid a clash with the last day of Passover. Local Jewish groups had objected to plans for the vote to be on April 6. The order moves the vote to April 13.

By hitting the Aventura trifecta – the elderly, shoppers and Jewish voters – Crist didn’t hurt his political standing as he seeks a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Crist was in Fort Lauderdale Tuesday evening for a political event at the Cypress Creek Sheraton. The governor is trying to rally supporters as polls show his lead over Marco Rubio is shrinking. The two face-off next year for the Republican nomination for the Senate seat vacated by Mel Martinez.