Silence from two Florida luminaries dims Romney bid

Orlando Sentinel ^ | September 16, 2011 | Mark Greenbaum

[DRey]

As the Republican primary enters a heated new stretch, Texas Gov. Rick Perry remains a heavy favorite over Mitt Romney. The outsider Perry's quick rise has unsettled numerous establishment Republicans who worry about Perry's electability.

In no state are these fears more important than in Florida, which one top Republican strategist recently opined would determine the party nominee and is a state Romney must capture. Romney covets the support of Florida's two biggest GOP heavyweights, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, both of whom are inclined to back him, but neither is likely to formally endorse.

Bush's view of the contest is colored by personal grievances, as the Bush family has never liked Rick Perry. The differences between the two camps come down to style and lineage more than ideology.

While the Bush family has always prided itself on its country-club Republicanism (or "compassionate conservatism"), Perry is an astonishingly aggressive politician who prefers scorched-earth politics.

For example, whereas George Bush reached out actively to Democrats as governor (although, admittedly, to a lesser extent as president), Perry has never sought to work with Texas Democrats, relentlessly dividing and conquering his enemies in Austin.

[DRey]

I obviously don't agree Perry would not take Rubio for VP, and certainly not for the reasons suggested here. But it's an interesting theory on Jeb/Rubio endorsements.

[Jim Robinson]

FUMR!

[achilles2000]

Perhaps Rubio isn’t as conservative as I thought.

[shield]

Perry Ping....

IF you'd rather NOT be pinged FReepmail me.

IF you'd like to be added FReepmail me. Thanks.

[DRey]

Perhaps Rubio isn’t as conservative as I thought.

I'm not buying it. Of course Rubio is going to be friendly with Jeb Bush -- they're both Florida Republicans. I think the GOP establishment would love to co opt Rubio from the Tea Party, but this is the first I've heard of them making any headway.

[Enterprise]

LOL!! Ditto!!!!

[shield]

Rubio isn't part of the Washington Tea Party. That says a whole lot about Rubio.

Maybe Cain would be a good VP for Perry.

[Will88]

It might be a little premature to declare “silence” from Bush and Rubio since the Florida primary is at least four and one-half months off, or even longer depending on what date they set for their primary.

(Florida has threatened to have the very first primary on January 31, but has met many objections.)

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The outsider Perry's quick rise has unsettled numerous establishment Republicans who worry about Perry's electability.

Kind of like Fred Thompson this time four years ago.

He sure faded fast, didn't he?

Couldn't happen to CFR-Ric though.

[GunRunner]

This article is written so poorly that its almost unreadable.

[DRey]

It IS newspaper. What do you expect?

[achilles2000]

It would be disappointing if Rubio is, at heart, a Bush-Republican.

[ken21]

bump.

[SlightOfTongue]

Somebody needs to put up a website called AusMitRomney.com

[normy]

I believe Rubio’s endorsement is far more important than Jeb’s. A good way to find out is for Jeb to endorse Romney and Rubio to endorse Perry and I think we will see that to be true.

[DRey]

I agree. Jeb who? He’s got about as much charisma as Romney. Rubio, on the other hand...

[mikhailovich]

I like Cain. But someone on here made a comment that had a lot of merit. The VP is always someone with experience in Washington politics, at the federal level. He listed compelling evidence to back up this history. Biden for Obama. Cheney for Bush. Quayle for Bush Sr. Gore for Clinton. Ford for Nixon....etc. All of them held office in congress or at the cabinet level, etc.

I'm sure this rule will be broken eventually. Maybe in 2012?

[shield]

I hadn’t even thought along those lines. It will be interesting to see who Perry picks for his VP.

[wolfcreek]

Keep this name in mind.

http://www.governor.virginia.gov/

[shield]

I certainly will. I had forgotten about him. Now that would be just great.