Marco Rubio was Jeb's guy in the state legislature for years. Now he is setting his sights on becoming a US Senator. He is a frequent speaker at tea party events, and setting up a campaign in the primary against Charlie Crist.
It appears this is part of a nationwide effort on the part of teabaggers
to rebel against the Republican Party.The coming Florida primary is shaping up to be the most brutal of the ideological primaries. Rubio, a 39-year-old Cuban-American who served for eight years in the Florida House — the last two years as speaker — entered the Senate race on May 5. Early on, he said that anyone who voted with the Senate Republican moderates “might as well be a Democrat.” In March, Rubio quietly signed up Ann Herberger, a prolific fundraiser for Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney, to stockpile cash for a campaign. In April, he came to Washington to talk with the Club for Growth, the fiscal conservative PAC that until April was led by Pat Toomey, and one that welcomed Crist into the race with pointed criticism. This, and an aggressive media strategy that has resulted in warm interviews with Fox News and National Review, has allowed Rubio to build buzz with conservative activists who fully expect Crist to lead the first rounds of polls.
“It will be closer than it looks right now,” said Susan MacManus, a political scientist at the University of South Florida. “It’s Crist’s race to lose but there is a pent-up animus against him from mainstream Republican voters who don’t like the fact that he’s cozied up to President Obama.”
Rubio is laying the groundwork for that by patiently laying out a litany of conservative complaints against Crist — his environmentalism, his appointment of a pro-choice judge, and above all his support for the economic stimulus package. “Charlie Crist has proven to have more confidence in the ability of government to grow the economy than I have and than Republicans should have,” Rubio told National Review. While Crist supported the president, Rubio attended an anti-spending Tea Party and has produced a video that mashes up his speech from the event with interviews he conducted with other protesters — a video that has been played for attendees of Grover Norquist’s Wednesday meetings of Washington conservatives.
There was a time I would have been elated to see Rubio win the primary, and I would have felt like a Democrat could beat him easily. I am not so sure about that now.
This is turn is forcing Charlie Crist to take a hard right turn and do things that are harming our state. Crist has gone so far as to remind everyone that he was once
called Chain Gang Charlie"When I was in the state Senate I was nicknamed 'Chain Gang Charlie.' It's hard to get right of that," he said during an interview with The Ledger prior to his address. ...
Crist said in his Ledger interview that he would describe himself as "about as conservative as you can get" in his post.
And Carl Hiaasen reminds us of the path Crist is taking, he says the money keeps flowing in.
Unlike Sarah Palin, Charlie Crist has chosen not to quit his governorship early. Florida's own one-term wonder is using his remaining time to ingratiate himself with as many deep-pocket interest groups as possible.
..."Take Senate Bill 360, which he signed into law last month. Authored by lobbyists for developers, it's one of the worst pieces of legislation to come out of one of the country's most buyable legislatures. The law emaciates Florida's Growth Management Act by removing state oversight of massive residential and commercial projects known as Developments of Regional Impact, which put enormous stress on neighboring communities.
More outrageously, the new law will stick taxpayers -- not developers -- with most of the high costs for roads and other infrastructure that housing subdivisions require.
It's a recipe for more reckless sprawl, which is the last thing Florida needs, and the last thing a self-baptized environmentalist like Crist should be endorsing.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, it is suspected that Roger Stone is up to his old tricks again here in Florida, trying to undermine the Democratic candidate, Kendrick Meek.
Is Roger Stone Up To One Of His Dirty Tricks In The FL Senate Race?Here's how the Times' political columnist, Adam Smith, describes him:
(Stone) has a reputation for being in the middle of bizarre political theatrics -- from the "Brooks Brothers riots" that shut down the Miami-Dade recount in 2000 to the Al Sharpton presidential campaign in 2004. According to Smith, Stone "predicted months ago" that a Democratic candidate would "emerge and very likely beat" Meek in the end. Stone told Smith about his connection with Ferre's bid: "Maurice Ferre is a very old friend of mine with whom I have strong regard. I urged him to start looking at this race before Charlie Crist was a candidate...I have always believed that Democratic nomination could be worth having for a candidate for broad appeal."
Ferre has admitted he and Stone talked about a senate bid, but "stressed that Stone is not advising or directly involved in his campaign."
The same can't be said of Stone's associates, though. Ferre's campaign advsior, Bill Fletcher, has worked with Stone in the past. Asked about the connection, one knowledgeable Florida Democrat told TPMDC today, "I have a lot of respect for the Machiavellian stuff Roger Stone does."
The Ferre connection with Crist goes beyond Stone. Ferre's campaign manger, Todd Wilder, was part of a group of Democrats, known as the Committee For Bipartisan Progress, that raised money for Crist during the 2006 Governor's race. Before joining the group, Wilder worked briefly for Crist's Democratic opponent, Jim Davis. He came to that campaign after Davis defeated the man Wilder had been working for, Rod Smith, in a contentious Democratic primary.
"It was basically Democrats for Crist," a Democrat close to the '06 race said. "It was formed out of the sour grapes of the primary."
Kendrick Meek is a good man, but he is a very conservative Democrat who may not speak up enough to stand out in this Florida circus environment.
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