The Old Capitol Building: On Tuesday, the Legislature returns to Tallahassee.

Will this week's special legislative session bring responsible public policy debate or crass political posturing?

The session called by Gov. Charlie Crist isn't convening on a convivial note as leading Republicans pooh-pooh the need to meet at all.

Comments from House Speaker Larry Cretul suggest that the whole thing could be over within a couple of hours after opening Tuesday, with no action taken on Crist's call for a constitutional amendment to ban offshore oil drilling.

Alternatively, the session could become a weeklong brawl between the GOP-dominated Legislature and a governor who bolted the party three months ago to become an independent.

Crist said the House would be "stunningly shortsighted'' not to put an offshore drilling ban on the November ballot.

"Who in their right mind would argue that the people shouldn't have a right to vote on this?'' Crist asked. "It's an unconscionable position.''

State Rep. Sandy Adams, R-Orlando, countered by announcing she was filing a resolution to censure the governor.

“Gov. Crist is wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayers' dollars on an unnecessary special session of the state Legislature, and he should be held accountable for this misuse," Adams said.

With Crist running for U.S. Senate and Adams campaigning for Congress, it is impossible to separate politics from the special-session debate.

"There's a lot of posturing, and everyone has a different agenda," observed Susan MacManus a political science professor at the University of South Florida.

Indeed, a smorgasbord of proposals has surfaced, ranging from GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott's call to enact an Arizona-style immigration law to a University of Florida push for lawmakers to override Crist's veto of $9.7 million in funding for Shands Hospital.

House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, and Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, say they want a second special session to address economic-relief issues stemming from the Gulf oil spill. Atwater, who is running for chief financial officer, is looking for a one-week session during the last week of August or the first week of September. Cretul favors the September dates.

A referendum on drilling would have to be passed by lawmakers before Aug. 1 in order to make the Nov. 2 ballot. But Republicans do not share Crist's urgency.

Marco Rubio, Crist's chief rival in the U.S. Senate race this fall, calls this week's special session "a $200,000 photo op."

“What we're getting are Washington-style gimmicks, like a call for a special session to ban what's already illegal in Florida,” Rubio, a Miami Republican, said last week. He accused Crist of spending $45,000 a day “to haul legislators to Tallahassee to basically hold a campaign event.”

Some lawmakers, including Senate President-designate Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, have challenged Crist to come up with a comprehensive renewable-energy package that goes beyond a constitutional ban on oil drilling.

But that appears to be a nonstarter as short-term political maneuvering in an election year trumps long-term policy debate.

"The last rumor I heard was that the House may convene, then immediately 'sine die' without taking any action. Cretul (who is term-limited) isn’t running for anything," said Lisa Hall, a spokeswoman for Citizens for Clean Energy.

In a letter to Atwater late last week, Cretul wrote:

“I am glad we agree that productive legislation addressing the Gulf oil spill cannot be enacted during (this) week's scheduled special session.

“Our duty is to dispose of executive proposals responsibly. Rushing to amend the Constitution at the last possible moment because of an accident hundreds of miles from our jurisdiction does not typify deliberation and responsible legislation."