CNN discovers the smoking gun that will derail Rubio’s political future

Yes, this is the actual graphic from CNN.

Hydrating.  With water.  Apparently, when Ted Kennedrunk killed a woman with his car and spent his entire life being a raging alcoholic, that wasn’t a “career ender”.  But sipping water on camera before a rebuttal to SOTU is.

And you people wonder why I don’t tune into politics much anymore?

Nope…no liberal media bias!

Rubio schools Kerry on debt issue

This is a 14:00 video clip, but trust me when I say that it is worth every stinking second!  My man-crush on Marco Rubio grows after this clip of the junior Senator from Florida humiliating Jean-Francois Heinz-Kerry (who is rumored to have served in Vietnam).

If you’re of the ADHD variety, then jump to about 7:49 in the clip, where Lurch interrupts Rubio to ask one of his two questions.  Takeaway quote:  “To the Senator from Massachusetts, I would say that it is impossible to negotiate with someone who doesn’t have a plan.”

Midterm 2010 postmortem

(Sorry for the delay, but I was wiped yesterday!)

Gloat away, friends!  🙂

Memo to President Oprompter, who now all of a sudden wants to “work together”:  We won.

Drew has a great post on why slaying a RINO in DE turned out to be a bad idea.  It’s not just “hindsight is 20/20”, but I’d say my foresight was pretty friggin’ awesome, too:

Look at how voters identified themselves by ideology…23% liberal, 66% moderate, 17% conservative. Coons cleaned up with liberals and moderates winning those groups 88 and 66 percent respectively. Do you really think those two groups were simply waiting for the ok from Karl Rove and John Cornyn to vote for O’Donnell?
…
Karl Rove and NRSC had nothing to do with O’Donnell’s defeat. In fact, as bad of a candidate as I think O’Donnell is, she had little to do with her defeat. It’s a deeply blue state that actually likes liberals. We had a chance to get a moderate-liberal Republican and passed on it. To me, that was tactically stupid. Yes, Castle would have been a pain in the ass but not as big a one when there were 47 or 48 Republicans in the House. The power of the moderates is when they are all the deciding vote, add a cushion and they are manageable. Personally, I would have like to have had another no vote on HCR in the Senate but others didn’t think that was important enough.

I seemed to recall mentioning that DE was a blue state.  Numerous times.

Rasmussen has always been a great pollster, and remarkably accurate.  But this election cycle, his polls were off.  He overestimated conservative performance in a number of races.  That allowed us to get our hopes up in places like NV and CO, where we thought our candidate was actually going to win.

A bunch of Democrat House bullies got their butts handed to them this week: Alan Grayson in FL, Ciro Rodriguez in TX (here and here), Baron Hill in IN (here), and Bob Etheridge in NC, just to name a few.  Well, Etheridge (the guy who assaulted the college kid with the camera, “Hooer you?”) is losing to Renee Ellmers by 1646 votes, and after “refined” vote totals netted him an additional 453 votes, the “refined” vote total just so happens (conveniently) to now be below 1%, which triggers a recount.  Funny how that happens with Democrats all the time, huh?

Point to ponder: Does Phil Hare (D-IL) care about the Constitution now?  😆

This election showed that with the re-election of Corrine Brown (FL) and Barney Frank (MA), among several others like them, there are indeed some unwinnable seats.  Mike Yost and Sean Bielat were, respectively, great candidates, and they both lost badly.  So let’s please resign ourselves to the reality that there are some seats that will be hopelessly blue in perpetuity.  For conservatives who live in those districts: move.

I wanted Reid’s scalp in the worst way.  But leave it to the Tea Party and Sarah Palin to screw that up for me, as they decided to back the one person in the whole friggin’ state who couldn’t beat Harry Reid 5-to-1.  While the Tea Party did have some success (Rob Portman in OH, Marco Rubio in FL, and Rand Paul in KY, among the notables), they did a horrendous job at vetting and backing other candidates (Buck in CO, Angle in NV, and O’Donnell in DE).  While I love how the Tea Party invigorated American consciousness and ignited conservative turnout, I’d prefer they stay out of the business of endorsing candidates, as their track record is inconsistent.  We would have had CO (Jane Norton), NV (Sue Lowden or Danny Tarkanian), and DE (Mike Castle) had Palin and the TP’ers stayed out of endorsing.  I know many of you may disagree, and that’s cool, but I’m convinced that CO, NV, and DE would have been ours, period.

In his victory speech, Marco Rubio was right: the public didn’t vote for the GOP.  They voted for an obstacle to Obamunism.  The GOP now has a second chance.  Don’t blow it, guys.

Had Charlie Crist taken his GOP primary beating like a man, then warmly endorsed and campaigned for Marco Rubio in the general election, then Crist would have been in a perfect position to destroy Bill Nelson in 2012.  Nelson is as unpopular in FL as Reid is in NV, and unless the GOP produces a quality opponent (and please stay the hell away from FL during our primary in two years, Mrs. Palin!), a bad Nelson will be re-elected just as a bad Reid was.  Crist could have been that guy to derail Nelson.  Instead, his ego and his blind ambition caused him to commit career suicide.  In one year, Crist went from Top Dog to In The Doghouse.

For you “Blue Dogs” who sided with Obama all the time: Now that you’re unemployed, was it worth it?

Russ Feingold lost in WI.  I’m still trying to absorb that.  The same state that voted for Michael Dukakis in 1988 actually voted for a conservative Republican to the U.S. Senate.  Dude.

We didn’t get the Senate this time.  But with a bunch of freshmen and/or red state Dems up for re-election in 2012, and since we’re only about 3-4 away from a majority, the odds are good we’ll prevail in 2012, irrespective of the outcome of the presidential election.

President Kick#ss isn’t convinced that the election was a referendum on him.  Hmmm.  A bunch of Dems representing districts (federal and 680 state) that haven’t been red in decades (and some since Reconstruction) got bounced.  The same districts have been through awful economic times, yet they kept sending back Dems.  But now, these once-blue districts are red.  And it has nothing to do with Obama?  Hey, whatever sweetens your dreams, Champ.

Blogging the midterms tonight (and into the morning)

Updates will be flowing throughout the evening. I’ll probably hit the hay around midnight or so, since those crazy people that sign my paychecks expect me to show up tomorrow and do stuff.  Crazy b#st#rds!  (For those of you on the left, google “paycheck” if the term confuses you.)

UPDATE 7:45 PM EST:  Rand Paul wins KY Senate race over Jack Conway.  Aqua Buddha hardest hit.  Also, Rob Portman wins OH Senate seat vacated by RINO George Voinovich by beating Lee Fisher (D).  Pickup news:  Dan Coats beats liberal Brad Ellsworth for Evan Bayh’s vacated IN Senate seat.  +1 GOP pickup.

UPDATE 8:00PM EST:  The AP is calling the FL Senate race for Marco Rubio!  Most elections, I vote against someone, but with Rubio, I enthusiastically voted for him.  Two man-crushes now: Rubio and Chris Christie (I still like women, though!).  Governor Citrus’ pathetic career comes to a bitter end, though I’m sure Willy Wonka will put him back to work in the chocolate factory.  😆

UPDATE 8:10 PM EST:  The left had hoped to pick up Senate seats in NH and MO (in addition to OH, mentioned above), but it didn’t happen.  Republicans Ayotte in NH and Blunt in MO hold serve.  #sshat Alan Grayson is getting pounded early in FL, which means he’s probably got MSNBC on speed dial and has an itchy dialing finger.

Also, Palin’s gal Christine O’Donnell got creamed by the Bearded Marxist in DE (enjoy Mike Castle’s RINO scalp!).  It didn’t have to be that way, people.

UPDATE 8:30 PM EST:  Blanche Lincoln gets blasted by John Boozman.  Hey, Blanche, how’d that ObamaCare vote work out for you?  You’re welcome, Kevin.  +2 GOP pickup.

UPDATE 8:32 PM EST:  Other “Blue Dogs” have fallen.  Suzanne Kosmas traded her vote on ObamaCare for some NASA pork, but she’s done.  VA’s Tom Perriello won narrowly in a reddish district in ’08, but his Lap Dog votes on ObamaCare, cap and tax, and Porkulus cost him this seat.  His fellow VA Dem Rick Boucher just lost, as did Glenn Nye.

UPDATE 8:35 PM EST:  Congress’ biggest jack#ss Alan Grayson is about to concede to Daniel Webster.  “Submit to me”, Grayson!  😆  Grayson blames Beelzebub the weather and gerrymandering (an R+2 district?)  😆

UPDATE 9:35 PM EST:  Another FL Democrat falls: Allen Boyd in FL-2, in the Panhandle.  Hard to be a “Blue Dog” when you’re adding ObamaCare’s trillions in debt, huh?  Anywho, Barney Frank wins, and we have a Senate pickup in ND, as John Hoeven takes Byron Dorgan’s old seat.  +3 GOP pickup.

UPDATE 10:20 PM EST:  FL governor’s race still up in the air.  Scott (R) up by 4% with about 75% of the votes in (and Democrat-heavy south FL isn’t finished), nowhere near ready to be called.  NM will elect a Republican Latina governor.  Also, the Senate is off the table, but the House is ours, baby!  Chris Matthews’ leg hardest hit.

Olbermann has a hard time finding black people at Tea Party rallies, so perhaps he’ll have an easier time finding Tim Scott, the newly elected black Republican Congressman from SC-1.  He’ll be in the Capitol, douche.

If retired Marine Allen West (no relation to Batman) beats Ron Klein in FL-22, that will be two black Republicans in the House.  If Ryan Frazier comes from behind to win in CO-7, that would be three black Republicans.  If those two men lose, can we ask why Democrats hate black people?  😉

UPDATE 10:40 PM EST:  McCain’s buddy Russ Feingold (D-WI) falls to businessman Ron Johnson.  +4 GOP pickup.

Also, SC elects Palin’s gal Nikki Haley as governor.  Haley endured mudslinging, especially unfounded rumors of an affair (and if you saw the dude who accused her of sleeping with him, you’d know it was a lie, as the guy was uglier than Helen Thomas chasing a parked car…and catching it.)

Stupak mortgaged his career for ObamaCare, and his seat just went to Republican Dan Banishek.

UPDATE 11:00 PM EST: Remember this guy?  Phil Hare (D-IL), who said he didn’t care about the Constitution and that the deficit was a “myth”?  Yeah, well now his career his a myth, as he just fell.

Still waiting on FL governor.  83% in, Scott up by 3% with South FL coming in.

UPDATE 11:40 PM EST: AP calls it for Pat Toomey. +5 GOP pickup.

UPDATE 11:59 PM EST: FL governor’s race still not decided.  91% of the votes in, Scott up by 2%, not done yet.

AP calls IL Senate for Mark Kirk.  Obama’s old seat, in Republican hands! +6 GOP pickup. 

Allen West did defeat Ron Klein in FL-22.  Predicted MSM headline:  Two black Republicans going to Congress, blacks hardest hit.

Votes out west being counted, but Californiastan votes for that senile relic Jerry Brown for governor, as well as Senator Ma’am, thus proving that they have no interest in resolving their economic despair anytime soon.  Don’t know any more, I’m off to bed.

UPDATE 09:39 AM EST: FL governor’s race still not decided. 99% of the precincts are in, with Republican Rick Scott clinging to a 1% 53,000 vote lead, and about 66 precincts in heavily Democrat Palm Beach County remaining. If Scott’s lead holds and stays above 27,000, he avoids the state-mandated automatic recount. However, since Sink is married to ambulance chaser Bill McBride (recipient of Jeb Bush’s buttkicking in 2002), I wouldn’t be shocked if her side sues in the event of a loss.

UPDATE 10:49 AM EST: The FL governor’s race appears to be over.  Alex Sink just conceded to Republican Rick Scott.  It was very close, but in the end, the votes just weren’t there.  And while that inconvenience doesn’t always stop Dems from finding/creating more, I guess Sink concluded that Scott’s win was outside the margin of fraud.

Also, don’t look now, but the nepot from AK (Princess Murkowski) looks like she just might pull off her write-in bid to get back to DC.  Absentee ballots and overseas ballots have to be counted, and they did swing the 2008 Senate election to Democrat Mark Begich, so anything’s possible, I guess.  But it’s not looking good for Republican Joe Miller.

Flailing Crist “heckles” Rubio during debate

The final (thank God!) debate in the FL Senate race was held Sunday morning between Rubio, Crist, and Meek.  Every time Rubio went to speak, Crist would interrupt and besiege Rubio with non-sequitirs and bizarre statements.  Rubio, always the class act, responds appropriately:

Heh.

Exit question #1: “Welcome to the NFL!”  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Exit question #2:  Why didn’t the moderators (from CNN) stop Crist’s interruptions and tell him “Governor, please wait until your turn”?  You know they would have done that to Rubio if here were as rude and desperate as Crist, right?

Poll sounds the death knell on Crist’s ill-fated Senate campaign?

From Rasmussen:

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Florida shows Rubio with 50% of the vote, up nine points from just over a week ago and his best showing in the race to date. Support for Crist, the state’s current GOP governor, has fallen to a new low of 25%, while Meek captures 19%. Three percent (3%) like another candidate in the race, and three percent (3%) more are undecided.

That’s 50%, in a three-way race.  While there are still three weeks until Election Day, and as such there is always time for an unforeseen error or scandal, this race is Rubio’s to lose.

In honor of the nation’s first Oompa Loompa governor, and with the proper recognition to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, I give you the following:

Oompa Loompa, doopity doo,
I’ve got another puzzle for you.
Oompa Loompa, doopity dee,
Crist said Rubio “drinks too much tea!”

What do you get when a RINO is toast?
A seat that was his for the taking, he boasts.
Feeling he was due, he had waited “his turn”,
but just like his skin, his cam..paign…burned!

You would be Charlie Crist!

Oompa Loompa, doopity dah,
Charlie Suntan’s on his last hurrah.
No one knows what Charlie will do,
When the Oompa Loompa’s career is through!

Note to commenter Kanaka Girl:  You’re welcome!  😆

Marco Rubio lays the smack down on Crist in debate, to his face, with a smile

Here‘s the video clip.  It’s at Univision, so you have to endure a Spanish advertisement before seeing the video, but it is sooooo worth it!  Partial transcript:

…For twenty years you’ve run as a Republican, running on the same things that you now criticize me for. Four months ago you were running against me as a Republican and saying the things you now criticize me for. You only changed parties and did this Independent thing when you couldn’t win a Republican primary and now you wake up everyday and try to figure out what you can say or do to take votes away from Congressman Meek so more Democrats will vote for you. …

The money line begins at the 3:12 mark of the video.  Ouch!  Watch Suntan Chuckie squirm nervously!

Exit question:  Should I feel guilty for having a man-crush on not one, but two Republicans?  Chris Christie will forgive me, won’t he?  Won’t he????  😆

Quote of the day, “Rubio identifies his competition” edition

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio on his race against the Democrat nominee (either Kendrick Meek or Jeff Greene) and the “independent” nominee Charlie Crist (video link here):

I’m running against two Democrats. One who admits it openly, and one who doesn’t.

Exactly right.  Crist has taken a hard turn to the left after leaving the GOP, which he only did after realizing he wasn’t going to be their nominee for the Senate.  Additionally, Crist has garnered the support of various Dem operatives, since they know he has no principles (which explains the appeal he has to Democrats).

Charlie Crist is both a liar and a fool

How is he a liar?  Voila:

On Fox News: 3/28/10

WALLACE: …have been persistent rumors in Florida that you are so far behind, at least currently, in the polls…that you may run instead as an independent. Here is your chance to dispel all the rumors. Are you willing to pledge right here, right now that you will run in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate and not run as an independent?

CRIST: I’m running as a Republican.

WALLACE: So are you ruling out that you will file as an independent by the April 30th deadline?

CRIST: That’s right. That’s right. I’m running as a Republican.

WALLACE: You will run not for a governor — you’ll run for Senate, and you will run as a — in the Republican primary.

CRIST: I’m running as a Republican.

WALLACE: Will you support the winner of the GOP primary, whether it’s you or Marco Rubio?

CRIST: Of course I will.

WALLACE: Well, I’m going to get — I’m going to — I’ll give you an opportunity for a final statement. I just want to say, though, you are saying you are going to run in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate. You will not run on the no party affiliation line.

CRIST: That’s right. That’s right. That’s what I’m saying.

How is he a fool?  Voila:

Voters are strategic. Remember the New Jersey governor’s race? Independent Christopher Daggett was polling at 10%, but only got 5.8% on Election Day. There’s a reason for that. American elections are winner take all, which makes it very difficult for third parties to thrive. Once voters catch wind that a vote for a third party candidate is a waste, they’ll bail on that candidate. This suggests that Crist is going to have to “defeat” either Marco Rubio or Kendrick Meek prior to Election Day. Now, how do you suppose he’s going to do that? He hasn’t been able to defeat Rubio yet. That means he will have to nullify Meek. I’m skeptical he’ll be able to do that. As an African American, Meek can expect strong support from the roughly 14% of the electorate that is black. That’s one big problem. Another big problem is that Crist will first have to get the Democratic Party establishment to get behind him, and the White House is refusing to take his calls. With good reason. They’re banking that Crist will siphon off just enough votes from Rubio to elect Meek. And anyway, with Roland Burris leaving the upper chamber next year, there might not be a single African American Senator in the 112th Congress. Can the Democratic establishment really turn its back on Meek – for Charlie Crist of all people? No way!
…
Ask people you know in life and they’ll complain about politicians who are only out for themselves, who aren’t looking out for the interests of the people. And now here comes good old Charlie Crist, who just a few weeks ago swore off an Independent run. This is a dishonest and nakedly self-interested move, and voters are fed up with this kind of behavior. The only compelling motivation that Charlie Crist has to run as an Independent is so that Charlie Crist can stay in elective office. That is not good enough in a year like 2010. Crist should take a lesson from Arlen Specter, a 30-year veteran of Pennsylvania statewide politics who pulled a similar stunt. He isn’t polling above 43% in the RCP average. That’s the kind of year this is.

…Instead, he is about to piss off every Republican in the country, and he’s not going to win over the affections of the Democrats, who clearly sense an opportunity to get one of their own into the seat.

More:

Crist has now been tempted into a desperation move. As Democratic consultant Steve Schale points out, Crist can win 25 percent of Republicans (highly improbable), 25 percent of Democrats (ditto) and 60 percent of independents (dream on), and still get only 31 percent of the vote, not enough to win. He’ll try to run against the system, a difficult trick when you occupy the governor’s mansion and your only objection to the system is that it no longer serves your purposes.

He saw an obscure poll that put him 2% ahead of Rubio in a three-way race, and it gave him the faintest glimmer of hope that his personal ambition could still be fulfilled.  But if he thinks he will get 1/4 of Democrats to abandon Obama’s lap dog Meek, and if he thinks the teachers union will support him over the Democrat, then that tanning bed has fried his gourd more than I thought.

Oh, well.  At least he’s got the Citrus-American voting bloc sewn up.

Crist announcing today that he plans on leaving GOP to run as…Independent or Democrat?

Most speculation is that Governor Oompa Loompa will run as an independent, bolting from the party to which he’s belonged his whole life on account of getting his clock cleaned by upstart Tea Party fave Marco Rubio.  But maybe Crist is thinking about running as a Democrat?  Details:

Marc Ambinder reports:

Charlie Crist, soon to be independent Senate candidate from Florida, tried to reach White House chief of staff Emanuel through intermediates. WH refuses to take the call. Dems plan big talent/money blitz for Kendrick Meek.

What’s Crist up to? Might he be interested in cutting a deal to caucus with the Democrats if they chase Meek from the field?

Who knows? But the most plausible path to victory for Crist is if Meek backs him. That’s a real possibility, I think, later in the game if Rubio and Crist are each getting about 40% in the polls and Meek is getting about 20%. But, as voters get to know the lesser-known Rubio and Meek, it’s probably more likely they emerge as the frontrunners and Crist fades as election day approaches.

And then does Crist throw his support to Meek in hopes of getting a nice ambassadorship? Again, who knows? In a three-way race things could get a little crazy (maybe starting with the speculation about how crazy things could get).

Crist is dripping with desperation.  He is going all out and for broke.  If he doesn’t win this Senate race, his once-promising career is deader than Ted Kennedy. (Sidebar: Mary Jo Kopechne was unavailable for comment.)

Crist vetoes education bill he helped shape, thus setting stage for Independent run

For those of you outside of FL, let me set the stage here for you:

Yesterday, Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed Senate Bill 6, which was a bill aimed at merit pay for teachers.  The bill was massively popular among Republicans, massively unpopular among Democrats, and I am led to believe most teachers, regardless of their political affiliations, were vehemently opposed to the language of the bill.  (Sidebar: I know teachers who are conservative, and many of them had grave reservations about the bill’s text, not the intent.)  Anywho, this isn’t a post about the merits of SB6, so allow me to continue…

Crist has been getting pummeled by Marco Rubio in the FL GOP Senate primary polls.  Crist went from being +30% last year to -30% now.  He has said repeatedly that he wasn’t going to become an independent, preferring to tough it out in the Republican primary.  But there are indications that he may pull a Joe Lieberman and switch anyway.

First, it was speculated that by vetoing a bill that he himself had great input in crafting, Crist would essentially be ending his career in the GOP.  He did indeed veto the bill.  After all, if you are desperately craving Independent street cred, how better to get some of it than to screw one of your party’s top pet projects?

Secondly, a Quinnipiac poll (not exactly the most reliable polling history in the world) yesterday showed Crist with a statistically insignificant lead over Rubio and Meek in a three-way race in November.  Granted, it is a single poll and taken as a snapshot in time, but given Crist’s implosion and no relief in sight, any glimmer of hope will be embraced by him.

Finally, and possibly most significant, the massively popular former governor Jeb Bush has piled on Crist for his veto…

I am disappointed by the veto of Senate Bill 6. By taking this action, Governor Crist has jeopardized the ability of Florida to build on the progress of the last decade, which includes raising student achievement across the board, narrowing the achievement gap for poor and minority students, and improving graduation rates. Florida’s sustained improvement is the result of bold reforms that were challenging, controversial and sometimes even unpopular. Reform is hard work but without a commitment to change, Florida would not be 8th in the nation today.

…and former Senator Connie Mack, who had been chairing Crist’s Senate campaign, resigned after the veto:

Gov. Charlie Crist’s political mentor, former U.S. Sen. Connie Mack, resigned Thursday as Crist’s campaign chairman in his race for the U.S. Senate.

Mack wrote a terse, two-paragraph letter to his one-time protege that said Crist was wrong to veto a bill (SB 6) that would have made it easier to fire teachers and tie their pay to student test scores.

“As you know, I strongly disagree with your veto,” Mack wrote his fellow Republican. “Your veto I believe undermines our education system in Florida and the principles for which I have always stood.”

Mack went on to say that Crist’s decision to veto the bill was “unsupportable and wrong.”

“As you can understand, I can no longer serve as chairman for your campaign for the United States Senate,” Mack wrote.

A source for an Orlando Fox affiliate says that Crist will announce his party abandonment today:

Thursday, Governor Crist vetoed the controversial teacher merit pay bill, breaking with conservative ranks. Then the head of the Republican U.S. Senate Re-election Committee issued a warning to Crist telling him his career is over if he tries to run outside the GOP.

Dr. Foglesong said, “A person I know in the Charlie Crist campaign has told me Charlie Crist would veto the merit pay bill, and he did. Further, he said he would announce tomorrow, that’s Friday, that he would run as an independent.”

Fox 35’s Tracy Jacim asked, “Where is this supposed to happen?” Dr. Foglesong said, “South Florida.” Jacim asks, “Miami?” Foglesong said, “Yes.” Jacim asks, “How reliable is this source?” Foglesong replied, “I trust the source.”

Fox 35 contacted the Crist campaign staff by e-mail, and they would neither confirm nor deny this claim, and expressed surprise we were asking.

Florida law puts a deadline on when a candidate can announce for a Senate bid, and my understanding is that the deadline was in about two weeks.  Ergo, it was “now or never” for Gov. Oompa Loompa to jump ship.  But if Crist thinks the teachers union who is trumpeting his praises today will rally behind him as an independent instead of backing Democrat Kendrick Meek, then the tanning bed has fried his gourd more than I thought.

In my view (and only time will tell if this holds true), Crist is basically another Arlen Specter: a RINO who thought it would be good for his own ambitions and career to jump ship, only to find out that the ship he jumped onto…was the Titanic.

Crist down by 32 to Rubio in today’s poll

Charlie Crist is going down faster than Ted Kennedy’s car at Chappaquiddick.  Details:

Rubio now leads Crist 60-28, including a staggering 71-17 lead with conservatives. Crist has a 49-36 advantage with party moderates, but they account for just 31% of likely primary voters compared to 65% who describe themselves as conservative.

Rubio is benefiting from a widely held sentiment among Florida GOP voters that Congressional Republicans are too liberal and that Crist would add to the problem. 41% of them think that the party leadership in Washington is too liberal, and with those folks Rubio holds an 83-10 lead. 50% think that Crist himself is too liberal and with those voters Rubio’s advantage expands even wider to 90-5.

It also looks like it’s too late for Crist to audible and make another run for Governor. GOP voters say they’d prefer likely nominee Bill McCollum over Crist by a 49-35 margin. In fact Republicans generally just want Crist to go away– 56% say they’d like him out of office a year from now to 19% who’d like to see him continue as Governor and only 14% who want him in the Senate.

Hard to believe that a guy with such big national aspirations is now a massive failure at the state level within his own party.  It wouldn’t surprise me if he were to pull a Specter and switch to the Dem side, or pull a Jeffords and switch to the Dem…er, “independent” side.  Not that it will make a difference one way or the other.

Reports say Crist will abandon GOP, run as independent

A couple of events have occurred over the last several days which have not portended well for our artificially tanned governor: (1) polls showing him trailing Marco Rubio by 18% in the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate; and (2) Crist staffers jumping off of his campaign bandwagon.

As a result, stories like this come as no surprise:

Two highly placed and independent sources, speaking strictly on background, tell me that Gov. Charlie Crist is preparing to leave the Republican Party and run as an independent in the race for the U.S. Senate.

With Crist trailing Marco Rubio by 18 points in the latest polls, the Crist campaign has been in panic mode, launching attack after attack on the conservative Rubio. 

It’s not official, but as the blog author says, ask yourself this: “do you believe it is possible that Crist will leave the Republican Party to run as an independent? You do, don’t you?”

Crist has always been a squishy Republican.  From his endorsement of John McCain in 2008 (which angered conservative Floridians when it had its intended consequences, i.e. handing McCain a FL primary win), to his ill-advised property tax reform, to his embrace of Obama and the Porkulus bill (a position he still defends unabashedly today), Crist was not well-suited to the true base of the Florida Republican Party.  Sure, had he won the primary, we would have voted for him over Obamaton Kendrick Meek.  Fortunately, now we don’t have to.

Is this bad news for us, i.e. is this a Joe Libermann 2006 situation?  Don’t know.  After all, CT Republicans voted for Joe in 2006, knowing that their guy was going to get rolled anyway, so they voted for Joe as a way to stick it to the liberal whackadoodles in their state.  Different dynamics at work here.

Is it possible that Crist could split the vote for the good guys this November? Sure.   Crist could siphon some votes that otherwise would have gone to Rubio.  On the other hand, polls show that Rubio is crushing Meek by over 20% anyway, and I don’t know if an independent Crist could attract 20% of Florida voters, especially 20% of the FL GOP base.  Besides, many thought that disgruntled Hillary voters might deprive B.O. from the presidency in 2008, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be.  I think it’s possible some folks may read too much into this.

Anywho, as of now, this is a rumor.  But admit it: it’s one you can see being true, isn’t it?

Rubio goes RINO hunting, has CPAC momentum behind him

Latest poll in the FL Senate Republican primary: Marco Rubio 54%, Charlie Crist 36%.

It seems that hugging Obama, embracing the stimulus, and Hispandering to illegal immigrants hasn’t endeared Crist to the GOP base.  Who knew?

By the way, Marco Rubio brought the house down at the CPAC shindig last week.  The base loves him.  I would caution anyone to get too enamoured with a politician, lest they wind up like the Obamatons where they toss sense out the window.

Be that as it may, Rubio looks like a wonderful alternative to Crist thus far, and polls show that either one of them would handily defeat Obama handmaiden Rep. Kendrick Meek in the general election.

Crist flaming out in Florida Republican Senate primary

The primary is still about seven months from now, but it looks like Gov. Charlie Crist was a bit premature in his decision not to run for re-election as Florida’s governor.

He instead wanted to take his brand nationally, to the U.S. Senate.  Trouble is, though, that despite being well-funded and having a well-recognized name, his bromance with President Training Wheels has been his undoing.  As of today, Crist trails primary opponent Marco Rubio by 12%.

Obviously, a lot can change between now and then.  Crist is loaded with cash and notoriety.  However, Rubio has decided that RINO-hunting can pay off big time for him.  Regardless of who wins between Crist and Rubio, though, the seat looks to stay red, barring any unforeseen circumstances.