Crist ‘crushing’ Rubio poll for Florida primary warrants a second look
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 12:10AM 
Former speaker of the Florida house Marco Rubio (left) speaks with supporters before addressing the Republican Women's Club of Duval Federated in Jacksonville.A new Mason-Dixon poll for Ron Sachs communications reported by The St. Petersburg Times has the headline, ‘McCollum leading Sink; Crist crushing Rubio and Meek.’ I can buy the McCollum leading Sink part. Florida’s already a financial disaster and Sink would in my opinion sink what’s left of the Sunshine State financials. But I think the Rubio factor warrants a second look.
I saw Marco Rubio in action last week during the Republican Women of Duval County Federated meeting. Rubio is classic conservative—fiscally aggressive, with a penchant for the little guy and small business. He’s the son of Cuban immigrants, and he hasn’t forgotten what this country meant to his family. Rubio is the opposite of the country club Republican stereotype.
I wrote about that meeting and checked a few polls. I took note of a May 12 article in Time, the neoliberal magazine ordinarily given to raving about President Barack Obama. Time noted, “One preliminary April poll gave Crist a 54%-8% advantage over Rubio…”
The Times said this week’s Mason-Dixon poll found, “Charlie Crist leads Marco Rubio in the Republican U.S. Senate primary 53 percent to 18 percent.”
I know you can’t compare two polls mathematically, but the numbers are telling because Rubio has nowhere near the exposure or big league endorsements Crist has. The insta-endorsements for Crist from some GOP politicos actually backfired, angering the base and resulting in a growing Facebook group begun by Red State—at present, there are 1,238 members pledging to give no money, no support, no aid, and no help at all to the efforts of the NRSC.
Some in the conservative party think this is nuts—why NOT endorse a candidate you know will win? Others like me believe caution should’ve ruled and all viable contenders should have a fair chance before the bandwagon got packed with cheerleaders. And I’m not a far-right winger. I want constitutional fealty, strong national security—I include securing our borders in that—and real tax reform. Rubio’s promising those ideals, and I get the feeling he’d keep his head on straight about the global warming/climate change religion the US government is shoving down American throats in the interest of emptying American pockets and fattening a few select hedge funds.
It’s early yet—you’d expect a sitting governor to be ahead in the polls. I don’t see the base buying Crist and I don’t see die-hard Dems buying him because a die-hard will pick his own party candidate even if the Dem candidate does have a ton of baggage.
The great moderate experiment has not worked for the GOP. They weren't moderates; they were big spenders. What really tanked the GOP in the presidential election was the Obama factor. It was the candidate, not the party. And what tanked the GOP in Congress was a result of some very weak candidates who probably shouldn’t have been there to start with. We also can’t dismiss the media war conducted against President George W. Bush from the moment he took office.
It’s too early to say anyone will crush anyone when the precincts open. We should’ve learned that in politics 101 by now. I believe Rubio’s numbers will rise as his brand navigates for recognition.
Kay B. Day, Editor
There's a very "thinkative" blog devoted to Marco Rubio's campaign. 'Run Marco Run' is written by Tommy Jardon, a law school student in Florida. Jardon's posts are very interesting, unusual in the world of legal writers.
Reader Comments (2)
Excellent article!!! Marco Rubio was on Laura Ingraham's radio show on Thursday morning and she offered to come to Florida to do an event for him. I figure that national exposure alone will give him more points the polls and thousands of votes in 2010.
I believe Rubio will be the strongest candidate I've seen so far. He's got amazing grassroots support not to mention the support of Red State. Thanks for commenting! best, Kay