Where was Jay Burmer when Charlie Crist needed him?

By all accounts, the governor's announcement that he was running for U.S. Senate as an independent lacked the energy and organization that  fueled Crist's campaign events in the past.

Politico.com said the lightly attended St. Petersburg rally "had the feel of the haphazard move it was."

His hometown newspaper, the St. Petersburg Times, noted that “While other Crist staffers promptly resigned, finance director Dane Eagle ... left the event holding a trademark of Crist's public appearances in each hand -- two portable fans to keep the governor cool.”

When asked who his campaign manager would be, the governor pointed to himself.

Though Crist expects to pick up sizable contributions at a fund-raiser at his wife's Fisher Island home this weekend, his ragged campaign is a far cry from the well-oiled, party-supported machine it once was.

One of the cogs in that machine was Jay Burmer, who directed Crist's campaign for education commissioner in 2000 and subsequently landed a series of political appointments.

But lately Burmer -- like two other Crist cronies, disgraced Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer and former RPOF treasurer Delmar Johnson -- has become more of a liability than an asset amid intensifying scrutiny of party finances.

Burmer's name popped up prominently this past week as receiving $316,000 for party consulting work during a 2 1/2-year period under the Greer regime.

It was not clear what exactly Burmer did to earn this payout, which only fueled speculation of rampant cronyism, "ghost" employment, or worse. Once an insider, ableit a shadowy one, Burmer is now being tossed like a toxic hot potato.

Greer's attorney, Damon Chase, told Sunshine State News that Burmer "did not work closely with the chairman (Greer)." To ascertain what Burmer did do, Chase advised, "Talk to (RPOF Chairman John) Thrasher. All records are at the RPOF."

At RPOF headquarters, spokeswoman Katie Gordon Betta responded:

"Chairman Thrasher will not be able to comment on the nature of Burmer’s work, given that he has not been employed by the party since weeks prior to Chairman Thrasher’s election.

"The last payment to Mr. Burmer in the amount of $15,000 was made during Mr. Greer’s chairmanship."

Asked about records pertaining to Burmer's duties, Betta stated in an e-mail:

"The services portion of Mr. Burmer’s contract states that he will perform services including, but not limited to strategic media planning. The communications staff of the RPOF has never worked with Mr. Burmer, so it does not appear that anyone currently or recently employed by the RPOF would be able to comment in detail as to the nature of his responsibilities.

"The only insight we have into his role at the party is his contract, to which Mr. Greer signed an addendum on March 15, 2007, awarding Mr. Burmer an increase in compensation. Mr. Greer’s is the only signature on the addendum, so I don’t know that anyone else at the RPOF would be able to provide insight into Mr. Burmer’s role."

Further distancing his client from Burmer, Greer attorney Chase invoked Crist's name, telling the Times, ``When the governor tells the chairman to hire Burmer as a consultant for $10,000 a month, the chairman signs the contract."

Chase suggested that Crist asked his client to put Burmer on the payroll as a personal adviser, according to the Times. The co-mingling of funds and duties is among the subjects of ongoing state and federal investigations of party finances.

Greer, Crist's handpicked choice for RPOF chairman, ``grossly interfered with the activities of the Republican Party," Thrasher said after completion of an internal audit.

Crist spokesmen have declined to comment on the Burmer matter, and Burmer was not reachable.

Still, the vague and sometimes-conflicting accounts about the duties and qualifications of the governor's longtime friend add to the baggage Crist carries into the Senate race -- even as the governor tries to distance himself from the party.

Burmer, 57, and Crist, 53, go way back to their days at Florida State University. Burmer the marketer and Crist the politician apparently made a good fit.