Free Republic

lorida Senate candidate Marco Rubio (R) said on Monday that he would welcome the endorsement of ex-Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska). The conservative insurgent candidate challenging Gov. Charlie Crist (R-Fla.) said that Palin's endorsement would be more than appropriate because they agree on nearly every issue. "I can't think of anything her and I disagree with off the top of my head," he told CBS News in an interview.

Club PAC Endorses Rubio in FL-Sen Press Release Club for Growth PAC Endorses Marco Rubio for U.S. SenateFormer Florida House Speaker 'the Real Deal,' Crist the 'Wrong Direction' WASHINGTON - Club for Growth PAC today endorsed Marco Rubio in the 2010 U.S. Senate race in Florida. "Marco Rubio is the real deal, one of the brightest young stars in American politics today, and a proven champion of economic liberty," said Club President Chris Chocola. "He is a dynamic spokesman for the principles of limited government and economic freedom, and he will make a fantastic Senator." Rubio served in the Florida...

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says he is not flip-flopping when it comes to support of the federal stimulus package championed by Democrats, saying his comments earlier this week to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer were more about the actual stimulus legislation passed by Congress, and not the effort itself. “I think the question posed to me was, ‘Did you endorse this specific bill?’” Crist told reporters Friday after speaking to the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices policy institute in Tampa. “And I said, ‘No, I didn’t,’ but the concept I thought, and still believe, was important, necessary and it helped...

Isn't it funny how quickly politicians abandon their original positions after being on the wrong side of an issue is used against them? Charlie Crist is the latest culprit of the phenomenon, revisionist history. During an appearance yesterday on CNN, Crist had this to say about the president's stimulus package: "I didn't endorse it. I didn't even have a vote on the darn thing. But I understood that it was gonna pass and I wanted to be able to utilize it for the benefit of my fellow Floridians." Are you sure you didn't support the stimulus Governor Crist? Because if...

Interesting fun fact of the day: The G5 that Scott Rothstein flew to Morocco and back was apparently arranged for Rothstein by Blue Star Jets. Blue Star Jets is owned by Todd Rome. Todd Rome is the ex-husband of Carol Rome. Carol Rome is the current wife of Florida governor and U.S. Senate candidate Charlie Crist. Charlie Crist is a guy who counted Rothstein as a friend and huge political donor.

The White House didn't do its erstwhile stimulus ally Charlie Crist much good on Thursday. Asked about Crist's contention that he never endorsed the stimulus bill, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Crist was behind the package. "I think his words at that event speak for themselves," Gibbs said. "I think he was very supportive of the legislation and supportive of the benefits it would have and has had for the state of Florida." One has to wonder how anxious centrist Republicans will be to get behind Democratic initiatives now that the White House has thrown one of few...

The RINO hunt continues. As many of us recall, Gov. Charlie Crist (R-Fla.) warmly embraced Obama's stimulus plan. Well, yesterday on CNN, apparently after examining the election results, Crist began the walkback. Too late Charlie, we've got your number.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – In a heated race for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination, Gov. Charlie Crist keeps moving away from his support of President Barack Obama's stimulus package that the governor called "fantastic" and "remarkable" when lobbying for its passage. Faced with an increasingly difficult primary challenge from former House Speaker Marco Rubio of West Miami, the governor now claims he didn't endorse the $787 billion economic stimulus that included a generous contribution for Florida. "It seems to be the president's answer to almost every challenge that's facing our country is to spend more money," Crist said Thursday. He commented...

Rumors are circulating that Scott Rothstein, whose current whereabouts aren't known, spent a marathon 18 hours in talks with federal prosecutors last night and this morning. ​Sources say he was not only confessing to his own crimes but pointing the finger at others, including Gov. Charlie Crist, who was so close to Rothstein that he visited his home, dined with him, and attended a party at his wedding last year at the Versace mansion.

There are some amazing stories brewing on the Scott Rothstein front, but while I'm reporting those, let's look at his cars.

After pumping more than $1 million into an upstate New York House race to elect the Conservative Party’s Doug Hoffman, the Club for Growth is on the hunt again. Chris Chocola, president of the conservative political action committee, made it clear the PAC is looking for more GOP targets who don’t embrace the Club’s limited-government approach. Priority No. 1 is likely to be the Senate contest in Florida, where Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, who embraced President Barack Obama’s stimulus package, is being challenged by former State House Speaker Marco Rubio. . . . . . Beyond Florida, other establishment Republicans...

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who recruited Gov. Charlie Crist to run for Florida’s open Senate seat next year, said today that the National Senatorial Campaign Committee will not put money into the primary Republican battle with former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio. “We will not spend money in a contested primary,” Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told ABC News.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Gov. Charlie Crist is saying he did not endorse the $787 billion federal stimulus bill, a statement that might confuse some voters. Crist appeared with President Barak Obama in February to support the bill, asked Florida members of Congress to vote for it and previously told The Associated Press that he would have voted for it if he had been in the Senate. But when the Republican governor talked about the bill Wednesday on CNN, he said he didn't endorse it. Crist told CNN he understood that the bill was going to pass and wanted to...

Scott Rothstein is meeting with federal prosecutors tonight, according to numerous sources, and criminal charges appear imminent in the apparent Ponzi scheme that exceeds $400 million.

Amid rumors that prominent Broward attorney Scott Rothstein has returned to town and may try to go to his law firm, Fort Lauderdale police on Tuesday surrounded his firm's building at 401 E. Las Olas Blvd. On Monday, the politically influential firm attempted to oust Rothstein amid a criminal investigation into his business dealings. The investigation into Rothstein, a major fundraiser for Gov. Charlie Crist, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and other major politicians has left candidates in the lurch and the law firm reeling. The firm -- Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler -- was a top sponsor of a Fort Lauderdale...

The conservative coup in upstate New York did much more than lay bare the power of conservative activists: It exposed how little control GOP officials hold over this surging and formidable political movement. In the wake of conservatives’ role in forcing liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava out of Tuesday’s special election in New York’s 23rd District, GOP officials are trying to make it seem as if they are helping to stoke the passion — and can harness it to upend President Barack Obama and Democrats. They didn’t — and they can’t. Many of the activists who helped knock out Scozzafava told...

The single biggest threat to Charlie Crist's political future probably isn't his U.S. Senate primary rival, Marco Rubio. It's former Gov. Jeb Bush, who could give Rubio an enormous boost if he chose to. A new St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald/Bay News 9 poll underscores how much Bush's shadow still looms over Florida almost three years after he left office: Forty-six percent said they would rather have Bush leading Florida today, while 41 percent said Crist. More striking, 71 percent of Republicans would pick Bush as governor today, while only 22 percent of Republicans said they would pick Crist over Bush....

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s Senate campaign is accused of breaking campaign finance law by ghost-writing a negative website about his opponent in the Republican primary race. At issue is the new site, TruthAboutRubio.com, which launched this week and features hits on Crist primary opponent Marco Rubio, including suggesting Rubio's campaign was behind a video comparing Crist to Adolf Hitler. Redstate.com blogger Erick Erickson has been on the case, after a reader ran down the source code from the site. There, Erickson found a tag that appears to be connected to a longtime Crist adviser, Rich Heffley. Heffley is a Crist...

Talk about desperation. Charlie Crist has set up a fake website to cover the “truth” about Marco Rubio.. Why do I call it a fake website?The website has blog posts time stamped all the way back to 2007 even thought it was only created yesterday. (http://truthaboutrubio.com/) It tries to tie Marco Rubio to a Hitler video parody of Charlie Crist — a video Rubio condemned upon finding out about it (he should have gone after it for a lack of comedic value other than the sun tan jab), but that this Charlie Crist backed site is fixated on. Funny how...

Who are the the DIABLOs (Democrats In All But Labels Only)? Who are the RINOs (Republicans In Name Only)? Unfortunately, the American Conservative Union's rankings are pretty useless. In search of being non-partisan and having an even spread of votes, they include many votes which are very lopsided, and so therefore Republicans can fake conservatism without upsetting their media masters and liberal donors. At the same time, a conservative who thinks that a bill is too liberal can get lumped in with all the liberals who thought the bill was too conservative. Combining these two factors, it's impossible to tell...

Did Charlie Crist and Rich Heffley Create the Charlie Crist Hitler Video? by Erick Erickson The plot thickens in Florida. A video popped up on YouTube on October 24, 2009, using the standard Hitler clip all the kids are using these days to mock Charlie Crist’s campaign. Naturally, it was an anonymous account. Three days later, the Crist campaign launched it’s anti-Marco Rubio website called truthaboutrubio.com. The star of the website was the Hitler video. The website ran a poll alleging Rubio’s campaign was behind the video and the website condemned Rubio for it. When RedState pointed out that Rich...

Video: Rubio on Morning Joe, Buchanan on Fox

ARCADIA, Fla. | President Obama's visit to a massive solar power plant Tuesday was supposed to highlight the benefits of his $787 billion stimulus plan, passed soon after he took office. But one sign that the message may not be connecting: The Republican governor who in February publicly embraced both the president and the plan was nowhere to be seen this time. In fact, Gov. Charlie Crist was noticeably absent from all of the president's events in Florida on Monday and Tuesday. He did not appear once with Mr. Obama, and even went so far as to imply Tuesday that...

...Among liberals and progressives, there is a puzzling admiration for Crist, long considered by Democratic and Republican veterans of Florida's political scene to be something of an opportunist if not a lightweight....

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Charlie Crist said this morning that he didn't know President Barack Obama was in Florida yesterday. Last week, Crist spoke candidly about his decision to appear with President Barack Obama during his first visit to Florida, saying that it was appropriate to show respect for the nation's highest office. But Crist didn't appear with Obama when the latter spoke in Jacksonville yesterday, and the governor has no plans to appear with him today.

As expected, Marco Rubio has won another county Republican Party straw poll by a huge margin over Gov. Charlie Crist—this one in Palm Beach County by 90-17 — leaving Republicans and others to continue to debate over whether such votes matter. Rubio has already won straw polls of county Republican parties in Bay, Gilchrist, Hernando, Highlands, Jefferson, Lee and Pasco counties, many by lopsided margins — 75-1 in Highlands, for example. The vote tonight was different, however. The earlier ones were all in rural or suburban counties. Palm Beach is the first big urban county in which the Republican Party...

Since taking office nearly three years ago, Charlie Crist has made his mark as the green governor. He organized climate change summits with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, mandated future government buildings be energy efficient and equipped with solar panels and pushed legislators and Florida Power & Light to build the largest solar power facility in the country. But when President Barack Obama arrives in Arcadia Tuesday to promote climate change legislation and the opening of the solar plant Crist helped push through, the governor will not be there. Chalk it up to politics. Crist cannot afford the political risk of...

Marco Rubio capitalizes on a photo of Charlie Crist hugging Barack Obama. BY CARLOS MILLER Marco Rubio has less political experience than Charlie Crist. And he hasn’t raised nearly as much money in his run against the governor for U.S. Senate. And he still lags behind the governor in polls leading up the November race. But he hasn’t hugged Barack Obama. And that just may be his ace in the hole. The former republican House Speaker has seized on a February photo that shows Crist hugging Obama as to why he is the better candidate. And it appears to be...

Fred, Yesterday, we received a double dose of encouraging news in our effort to elect Marco Rubio to the U.S. Senate. Early in the morning, we learned about a new Quinnipiac poll showing Marco has cut Charlie Crist's Senate primary lead in half.  What was once a 55-26 margin is now down to 50-35. Late yesterday, a second poll was released by Rasmussen Reports.  While it showed a similar margin (49-35) in the Republican primary, it also showed Marco leading Democrat frontrunner Kendrick Meek by 15 points, 46-31. Thanks to supporters like you, we are making progress – not...

There is a new Rasmussen poll out today with very striking data. It polls hypothetical general election match ups between Democrat Senatorial candidate Kendrick Meek vs Republican Marco Rubio or Charlie Crist. The results are as follows: Charlie Crist- 46% Kendrick Meek-34% Marco Rubio-46% Kendrick Meek-31% These results are profound and striking for one simple reason. In light of the current conflict with the RINO GOP establishment in the special election of NY-CD-23, these results must be disseminated to debunk a common misconception. There is a narrative that has been promulgated by the RINO cesspool that the more liberal the...

Here’s a prime reason why Gov. Charlie Crist’s outgoing chief of staff, Eric Eikenberg, is already moving over to manage his Senate campaign – with nearly a year before the primary: Marco Rubio is rapidly catching up with the governor among Republican primary voters. A new Quinnipiac poll shows Rubio making significant gains in the Republican primary, and now only trails Crist 50 to 35 percent despite being less-known than the governor. That’s down from a 24-point Crist lead in August. Among Republicans, Rubio holds an outstanding net favorability rating, with 44 percent of Floridians approving of him with just...

ARCADIA, Fla. - A new Quinnipiac University poll out today shows that Republican candidate Marco Rubio, the former Speaker of the Florida State House is closing the gap between himself and front-runner Gov. Charlie Crist in the 2010 Republican primary race for the U.S. Senate. Rubio, has cut Crist's lead in half, according to the poll's results among Florida Republicans to 50-35 percent. "Gov. Charlie Crist's lead, which had been 29 points August 19, has come back down to earth. His margin is still formidable, but obviously Marco Rubio's focus on convincing Republican conservatives that he, not Crist, is their...

TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) ― Governor Crist may be in for more of a battle in the Republican primary for the soon-to-be vacant Senate seat than he initially thought. According to a new poll from Quinnipiac University, former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio has cut Governor Crist's in half. Crist had a lead of 29 points in the Quinnipiac poll for Florida voters in mid-August. In the latest poll, conducted October 12-18, Crist's lead over Rubio had been cut to 15 points. Rubio has hammered Crist over the Governor's support of President Barack Obama's stimulus plan earlier in 2009. Both Crist and...

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A proposed state guideline for dealing with an influenza pandemic is causing quite a stir. The Florida Department of Health is proposing that health care providers, notably hospitals, pull the plug on the most critically-ill patients in order to treat "healthier" patients.

Marco Rubio's campaign for U.S. Senate, already picking up speed with fundraising, now has another endorsement to tout. The Buzz is U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Olahoma, will endorse the former Republican House speaker today. Rubio was previously endorsed by South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint.

I heard a Charlie Crist ad on Rush today where he claims to be a fiscal conservative. LOL! He even takes a swipe at Obama. I guess he must be worried about Rubio.

Charlie Crist has begun airing the first radio ads of the U.S. Senate race – blasting President Obama for his freespending of taxpayer money, some of which the governor earlier endorsed. A pair of 60-second spots have begun airing statewide – one sending a “message” to Obama that “enough is enough.” The other claims “Washington is out of control. “Yet the president has the same tired answer for every problem – to spend more of your money,” the spot begins. Crist’s approach to Obama and federal spending is a departure from just months ago. Shortly after joining Obama in Fort...

<snip> The growing numbers of Americans coming out to the Tax Day Tea Party, the Fourth of July Tea Parties, and then the 9/12 Tea Party march on Washington are going back to their home districts and keeping up — even intensifying — the fight for smaller government and more transparency on spending and taxation. In places like New York, Florida, California, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania, local, state, congressional, and gubernatorial seats are suddenly being tugged to-and-fro by the new and unruly political force. The upshot? The street energy is welcome for an otherwise moribund Republican party looking for new...

...Enter the Republican establishment. They sold this country out when they were in power and can’t ever be trusted again. But they see an opening and are setting the stage for their own return. They are handpicking candidates — Bush-likes and Bush-lites — to run against conservatives in primaries. Many are retreads, all are available for purchase. Then the party elite endorses their candidate early in the primary, fills their coffers with millions from corporate PACs and special interests, pressures party regulars to get in line, and sends word to the grassroots candidates: “Drop out — you can’t win”. Their...

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will head to Las Vegas at the end of the month for a well-backed, high-priced fundraiser with perhaps the Republican Party's wealthiest donor. Crist will benefit from a fundraiser at the Palazzo Hotel and Casino, one of the newest casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, on Oct. 29. His host, Las Vegas Sands Corp. CEO Sheldon Adelson, is the 26th-richest man in America, according to Forbes magazine. Adelson funded the conservative group Freedom's Watch during the 2008 campaign, spending millions of dollars to attack then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Democratic candidates up and down the ballot....

Gov. Charlie Crist and his ``stimulus czar'' said Friday that a recent federal report supports Florida's go-slow approach to spending federal recovery money earmarked for highway projects and schools. Even so, Florida's overall stimulus spending is a bit ahead of schedule, said czar Don Winstead, whose official title is special advisor to the governor on economic stimulus. Federal officials in February said they expected the state to spend about 20 percent of its estimated $15 billion in stimulus money by the end of September. ``I think we will be ahead of that schedule,'' Winstead said. ``We are seeing rapid deployment...

After no-name candidate Marco Rubio raised about $300,000 in his first quarter for his primary campaign against Charlie Crist, he announced a cool $1 million pull for his third quarter. A day later, Crist boasted over twice that - but the trends are important, Crist spokesman Alex Burgos says. "Charlie Crist announced his numbers and they're down significnalty from his second quarter total," said Burgos. "So we like the trends. Marco is trending up, and Crist tripped." But some wonder whether or not one million is even enough. It takes roughly $1.5 million to get "one message" out -- to...

Conservative Republican Marco Rubio says $1 million in donations to his Senate campaign is a 'strong statement' about the direction of the GOP. BY BETH REINHARD U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio said Tuesday he raised nearly $1 million in the past three months to challenge Charlie Crist for the Republican nomination, turning what looked like a cakewalk for the popular incumbent governor into a potentially competitive race. In the previous fundraising quarter, Crist's $4.3 million dwarfed the $340,000 raised by Rubio. But the former leader of the Florida House from Miami gained momentum, winning 11 small, unofficial polls of county...

Carl Rove on Monday confirmed that he has endorsed Marco Rubio for the US Senate over Governor Charlie Crist.

October 05, 2009 Categories: Florida Rove donated to Rubio NBC News’ Chuck Todd has the scoop that Karl Rove is supporting Marco Rubio, the conservative challenger to Gov. Charlie Crist, in the Republican primary for the Senate in Florida – at least with his money. Rove donated $1,000 to Rubio's campaign -- a sign of support for the underdog as he goes up against the governor, who holds a significant fundraising advantage. NBC's First Read also concludes that the donation as a sign of where former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's true loyalties lie: Many believe this is Jeb's way of...

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Charlie Crist is a Republican. But in so many ways, you wouldn't know it -- from championing felon rights to backing the federal stimulus package, he's bucked his party's agenda until now. Crist welcomed President Barack Obama to the Sunshine State with open arms seven months ago. The president was here to campaign for the stimulus. That was then and this is now. "There are concerns that we have about the direction of this administration," Crist said on CNN. Crist said the country won't vote for Obama again. The governor even hit national news Tuesday morning to...

The Rocky Balboa fight of politics is occurring right before our eyes here in the Sunshine State. Charlie Crist, the ever-popular governor of Florida with approval ratings in the 60's is getting more than he ever bargained for in his race for the United States Senate from Marco Rubio, the former speaker of the house in the Florida state legislature. The pundits predicted an early landslide. The Republican establishment in Florida offered Rubio an easier office to win. Maybe Attorney General? Rubio declined. The National Republican Senatorial Committee and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) even threw their hat behind Crist the...

. . . . . . the fourth-most-populous state will loom over American politics next summer when Republicans select a Senate nominee. Their primary will test whether the party has become so risk-averse that it flinches from interesting choices.The nominee almost certainly will be either Gov. Charlie Crist or Marco Rubio, former speaker of the Florida House (term limits, which he supports, retired him). Leading national Republicans rushed to endorse Crist. In tennis, such decisions are called unforced errors.. . . . . . .In January 2011, one Floridian will leave for the U.S. Senate. He is unlikely to be...

MACKINAC ISLAND, Michigan (CNN) – Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said he thinks President Barack Obama could be in for an ousting from office similar to what happened to Democratic President Jimmy Carter after his first term. "I think the people wanted a change," the Florida Republican said, speaking of the election of Obama in November while drawing similarities to events decades earlier. "They wanted a change back in 1976. You remember? Richard Nixon had been president. That ended. Gerald Ford took over. The people decided they wanted a change. They got one-Jimmy Carter. Four years later, they took care of...

Satellite radio show host Mike Church discusses the Campaign for Liberty, the Republican Party of Florida, Will Pitts, Ron Paul,Tom Woods, Audit the Fed, HR1207, Charlie Crist, Jim Greer, and the Republican Liberty Caucus [Click Here to Listen]