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Whenever Time magazine praises a Republican, you can almost always be sure it is because of an ulterior motive. And, sure enough, the motive for Time magazine to praise Florida Republican governor Charlie Crist is to slam his much more conservative senate primary opponent, former state House speaker Marco Rubio. Note the sympathy for Crist in this Time story by Tim Padgett coupled with criticism of Rubio: Ever since a conservative tent revival began sweeping America last summer, sparked by angry misgivings about health care reform and other harbingers of big government, Republican purists have targeted Crist's moderate, bipartisan style....

‘Wow.” That was the response of a cynical Florida Republican politico recently reacting to poll numbers showing former state speaker of the house Marco Rubio tied with Gov. Charlie Crist. The two are expected to face one another in an August Republican primary for the Senate seat abandoned by Republican Mel Martinez. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, is wowing even the professionals; his performance is especially impressive because the weight of the Republican establishment is behind Crist, as it has been for most of the year — the National Republican Senatorial Committee endorsed him back in the spring. The...

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Charlie Crist responded this morning to questions about the latest Rasmussen poll, showing him in a 43-43 tie with Marco Rubio in the race for U.S. Senate. From Rasmussen Reports: "Crist's support has fallen from 53% in August to 49% in October. Rasmussen Reports noted at the time, 'The fact that Crist has fallen below 50% in a primary against a lesser known opponent suggests potential vulnerability.' "Rubio's name recognition has grown in recent months and he is now viewed Very Favorably by 34% of Likely Primary Voters. That's up from 18% in August. As his name...

It was just a matter of time before Florida's former House Speaker Marco Rubio proved that Floridians are tired of the same old RINO politics of the past and would stand behind a truly prinicpled conservative. According to the latest Rasmussen poll released tonight. Rubio and Crist are tied. This has got to put the Crist camp in a tizzy. There are still 8 months to go before the primary election but I am positve that Crist NEVER expected such a tremendous challenge. . . .

Question: Is Florida Governor Charlie Crist a Republican or a Democrat? 
Answer: Yes. Depending on what's popular at the moment. Just as one can estimate the time of day by watching heliotropic plants as they lean toward the sun, one can tell an election is nearing when Charlie "Rorschach" Crist starts changing his positions, leaning in the direction of what's popular. Taking a page from Flip Wilson's Reverend Leroy, Crist belongs to the Political Church of What's Happenin' Now." He's rotating his political stock, to insure that the freshest ideas from polls and focus groups are what he puts out...

A great place to keep up with the 2010 Florida Senate race is Vote Rubio 2010. Rubio is a very impressive young candidate, and it appears he is really gaining ground on Crist.

Blogger Jordan Carmon catches Marco Rubio’s upstart Senate campaign putting together an ad against Gov. Charlie Crist (R-Fla.)–his opponent in the 2010 GOP primary–that looks and sounds exactly like a hard-hitting ad then-presidential candidate Barack Obama ran against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2008. Check out the ads. First, Rubio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hghjqOw3CBs Now, Obama: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6reQLzgywzk Notice that the equivalent of the picture with Bush is a picture of Crist with Obama.

I supported Doug Hoffman in the New York 23rd to send a message to the Republican leadership that the Tea Party movement cannot be ignored. My message: “Stop supporting RINO’s over solid conservatives”. I understand a similar situation is brewing in a California Senate race, but I know little about it. What I do know is that a major confrontation exists right now in the Senate Republican race between Governor Crist, a very liberal RINO who strongly supported Obama’s programs – and former speaker of the Florida House, Marco Rubio, an unabashed conservative. Crist enraged me on his first day...

When a political party is out of the White House and in the minority on Capitol Hill, it's time for licking wounds. But it's also time to think ahead to who the next leaders of the Republican Party will be. Some of the main Republican contenders — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty — are well-known. Others, like Florida Rep. Marco Rubio, aren't. Rubio, a conservative outsider and former speaker of the state House, is challenging former Gov. Charlie Crist for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination. There's an open seat next year because of...

Senator Jim DeMint just sent me the statement below on his support for Doug Hoffman. As one of the real leaders of the conservative movement in this country, DeMint speaks for many of us. I’m delighted he is, as he consistently does, putting principle over party in this case. Senator DeMint says: “Too often, we’re told that Republicans have to be like Democrats to be competitive in states like New York, Pennsylvania and Florida. But the truth is voters don’t want to be forced to pick between two liberals; they want a real choice. If voters want to give Washington...

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...

Over the past few weeks, Florida GOP Gov. Charlie Crist has found himself being put on the defensive more and more in the primary thanks to the challenge by ex-state House Speaker Marco Rubio. While Crist has financially overwhelmed Rubio to date, there are many Republicans -- particularly those in Flordia that are close to former GOP Gov. Jeb Bush -- who have publicly become more comfortable airing their skepticism about Crist in public. One of those Republicans with close ties to the Bush family, Karl Rove, has signaled his preference with his wallet. Rove confirms to NBC News that...

LAKELAND | U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite is the second Florida member of Congress to endorse former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio over Gov. Charlie Crist for the U.S. Senate. The announcement was made Friday by the Rubio campaign and Brown-Waite's staff confirmed the Brooksville Republican's decision to go with Rubio, who has staked out a position to the right of Crist. Brown-Waite's 5th Congressional District includes the northwestern quarter section of Polk County. Rubio is trying to pull the conservative wing of the party from Crist and has been successful in several nonscientific straw polls among county Republican executive committees....

Don’t tell Marco Rubio his primary race for the U.S. senate against Florida Gov. Charlie Crist depends on money or endorsements. Rubio, who finished his term as Florida’s Speaker of the House in 2008, is focused on a much bigger picture: limiting government and thus liberating American entrepreneurship. The impetus behind his campaign is that same wave of conservative outrage which carried Tea Party protesters to Washington and put Rubio’s race in the national spotlight. His race is about message (adherence to conservative principles), and, as Rubio says, the only amount of money he needs is the money to get...

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Asked if he had a favorite in the race between Gov. Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio for the U.S. Senate, Bush said he did not. “I admire both of them,” Bush said. But Bush then went on to praise Rubio as having a great life story and as being very articulate. Bush said national party leaders should not be trying to push Crist as aggressively as they have. He said Rubio deserved a fair shot against Crist in a primary. “I think he should be given a chance. I think that the idea that the national party...

A Florida GOP House member went against conventional wisdom and endorsed Marco Rubio for Senate on Thursday. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.) joined Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) in backing Rubio (R), the former Speaker of the Florida House who is running a long-shot bid to replace Sen. George LeMieux (R). LeMieux was appointed earlier this month to fill out former Sen. Mel Martinez's (R) unexpired term. In the Republican primary, Rubio will face Gov. Charlie Crist (R), the popular first-term governor who leads by big margins in most polls. ....... So far, Rubio has attracted national attention in his quest. In...

Crist's popularity as governor doesn't always extend to members of his own Republican Party, and that might make him vulnerable as he runs for U.S. Senate. BY ADAM C. SMITH Charlie Crist is swimming in campaign money, and polls consistently show him to be among the most popular politicians in America. But something ominous and unpredictable is brewing in Florida, and a growing number of Republicans are starting to consider the unthinkable: the people's governor could lose his campaign for U.S. Senate. "It's rare that I talk to anyone that's got a good thing to say about the governor right...

Ex-speaker of Florida House addresses Lakeland Republicans. BY BILL RUFTY LAKELAND - If Marco Rubio's appearance in Lakeland on Wednesday is any indication of his support in his campaign for the U.S. Senate then Gov. Charlie Crist had better take notice. Rubio, the former speaker of the Florida House who is challenging Crist for the Republican nomination, addressed a Lakeland Republican Club luncheon at Cleveland Heights Golf Course. The crowd that was expected to be about 160 grew to a little more than 190 and gave him three standing ovations. His main message, to the audience and during an interview...

‘Once sworn into office, the victors reverted to type. In their view, apparently, the ends justified the means.” So said Ronald Reagan, speaking in March of 1975. But it could be Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, in the summer of 2009. The 38-year-old former speaker of the Florida house of representatives is running against Gov. Charlie Crist in a primary for the Senate seat being vacated by fellow Republican Mel Martinez. Rubio has been billed as the Republican answer to Barack Obama. But at a time when some are aching for the second coming of the Gipper, he is more...

Florida governor Charlie Crist is running for the Senate, and he isn’t supposed to lose — let alone lose in the Republican primary. He enjoys a high approval rating, has a history of success among voters, and raises campaign cash with the intensity of a Category 5 hurricane. His main opponent in the GOP primary is Marco Rubio, a 38-year-old Miami native who quotes Snoop Dogg lyrics on his Twitter account. On paper, it looks like a mismatch between an unbeatable juggernaut and a doomed also-ran. Yet Crist may be vulnerable: He warmly embraced President Obama’s stimulus spending and is...

Conservative Republicans in Florida may be rumbling about Charlie Crist’s run for the U.S. Senate, but so far the governor is well ahead of his chief 2010 GOP Primary challenger. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the Sunshine State shows Crist leading former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio by 22 points among likely Republican Primary voters – 53% to 31%. Five percent (5%) prefer some other candidate, and 11% are undecided. Still, the fact that Crist is barely above 50% in a primary against a much lesser known opponent suggests at least a potential vulnerability. This is the first...

Several months back, I suggested that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was the perfect moderate politician to help bring independent voters back to the Republican Party. Crist had just announced his plans to skip a second term as governor and instead seek the U.S. Senate seat held by the retiring Mel Martinez. In that race next year, Crist is being challenged in the GOP primary by a young Cuban-American, the highly conservative former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Marco Rubio. When that column was written, Barack Obama's approval rating was near 70 percent and moderation seemed to be the...

Gov. Charlie Crist said he wasn't sure if he would host another climate-change summit and is backing away from his cap-and-trade energy policy. BY MARC CAPUTO TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Charlie Crist is cooling to global warming. Under mounting criticism from fellow Republicans, Crist looks ready to cancel his climate-change summit and is backing away from advocating a "cap-and-trade" energy policy. At his well-publicized climate summit last summer, Crist pushed a number of energy plans to encourage renewable energy development and establish a cap-and-trade market that would penalize fossil-fuel use. But Crist's plans were shredded by the Republican Legislature and his...

Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court was a truly historic moment in our nation’s history. As an accomplished jurist who rose from humble roots, she is an inspiration to all who share her Hispanic heritage and all Americans who believe hard work is key to success. Since that moment, however, I have considered it vital to ensure that the historic nature of her nomination did not interfere with the Senate’s constitutional duty of evaluating it and having a proper debate about the judiciary’s proper function in America. After all, the lifetime nature of her appointment brandishes the post with...

Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court was a truly historic moment in our nation’s history. As an accomplished jurist who rose from humble roots, she is an inspiration to all who share her Hispanic heritage and all Americans who believe hard work is key to success. Since that moment, however, I have considered it vital to ensure that the historic nature of her nomination did not interfere with the Senate’s constitutional duty of evaluating it and having a proper debate about the judiciary’s proper function in America. After all, the lifetime nature of her appointment brandishes the post with...

Former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio plans to continue his campaign for the Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez, despite having a sizable deficit in fundraising compared to the other Republican candidate Charlie Crist, according to a report in the Washington Post. Chris Cillizza of the Post said Rubio will be in Washington, DC on Wednesday for meetings and is expected to "re-assert his commitment to the race." Rubio has garnered some national support, most notably former Arkansas governor and current Fox News host Mike Huckabee. Experts believe Rubio will try and turn the race into a referendum on...

Sen. John Cornyn’s Facebook friends aren’t in a very friendly mood. The Texas Republican’s page on the popular social networking website has been filled with comments like this one from a Florida real estate broker: “As soon as I read of your endorsement of Charlie Crist, I sent in a donation to the Marco Rubio campaign.” A new Facebook group has since cropped up challenging members to give “not one penny” to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), of which Cornyn is chairman. The online group’s description says: “First they supported Chafee. Then they supported Specter. Now they support Crist.”...

TAMPA - The Club for Growth, a conservative political committee known for spending big bucks in Republican primaries, is still interested in Marco Rubio's challenge to Charlie Crist but wary of his lack of fundraising success so far, its director said. "It's less than what we'd been hearing would be announced," executive director David Keating said. He said the group will still be watching the Republican primary race for the U.S. Senate and considering whether to intervene to support Rubio.

TALLAHASSEE - It is hardly the path to the top of the ticket many envisioned for Marco Rubio just a few years ago. The West Miami lawyer, now 38, had a national profile even before he took the gavel as Florida House speaker in 2006. He held "100 Ideas" forums with the likes of the late Jack Kemp and Newt Gingrich. A Senate president predicted his charisma would ultimately lead him to the Governor's Mansion and White House. Outgoing Gov. Jeb Bush even christened him his ideological heir by presenting him with a sword on the House floor. But today,...

The Club for Growth, a conservative anti-tax group, is considering running ads in the Republican Party's Senate primary race against Florida Gov. Charlie Crist for supporting higher state taxes and President Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus spending package. Mr. Crist's opponent for the Republican Party's nomination next year is former state Speaker of the House Marco Rubio, a young conservative running on cutting government spending and taxes who recently met here with the Club for Growth, which has a strong reputation for defeating liberal and moderate Republicans in party primaries with its aggressive ad campaigns. "We recently interviewed Marco Rubio...

Marco Rubio overwhelmed Charlie Crist in an important straw poll conducted by the Pasco County Republican Executive Committee last night. Pasco county borders just to the north of Crist’s home county of Pinellas. Pasco county chairman Randy Maggard conducted the straw poll to determine which candidates were preferred by the majority of the executive committee. Marco Rubio won with a overwhelming vote of 73 votes to Charlie Crist’s 9.

The ultra-conservative wing of the GOP wants to make Florida’s Republican Senate primary a test case of its power. The race pits Gov. Charlie Crist, a moderate who had the audacity to endorse President Obama’s stimulus plan, against hard-core conservative Marco Rubio, a former speaker of the state House. Crist also just signed a new state budget raising the cigarette tax and various fees by $2 billion, an act that further fueled conservative anger. Even worse, the moderate governor has drawn strong support from current Republican senators. He has been endorsed by Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate,...

Former U.S. Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) announced Monday, via YouTube, he intends to challenge Governor Charlie Crist and former Florida House of Representatives Speaker Marco Rubio in the Republican primary for Florida’s vacant Senate seat in 2010. Echoing Rubio’s conservative sentiments, the Florida snowbird said his entry into the already-crowded primary was precipitated by the Republican Party establishment’s unacceptable lurch to the left. “I can’t stand by and watch what is happening to our country – and our Party,” Smith said in his online address. Smith’s new-found moral compass and concern for the direction of his country and of the...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has rolled out a succession of endorsements from national Republicans since announcing his entrance into the 2010 Senate race. Now his Republican primary rival, former Florida House speaker Marco Rubio, has a national endorsement of his own from a conservative heavyweight: Mike Huckabee. The former Arkansas governor will formally endorse Rubio in about two weeks, according to a Florida Republican familiar with the plans. The details of where the endorsement will take place have not been decided.

Over the past week, I have repeatedly heard from Republicans troubled by the rumors that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, the National Republican Senatorial Committee's choice in the 2010 Senate primary, is gay. At age 52, Crist had never wed until he married Florida businesswoman Christine Rome two weeks before Christmas last year. Those who profess concern about "civility" would say -- or at least, should say -- that the rumors are thereby disproven. But . . . Let me share with you a message I received yesterday from someone I don't know, and who wishes to remain anonymous: I have...

Listening to Marco Rubio, one can almost hear what the Gipper would say: “One day a young, well versed, bright son of immigrants, who is every bit as passionate about the words and ideals of our Founding Fathers as Americans were in their time (probably interjecting with one of his typical self-effacing quips: “I know, I was there”) will be president. Let’s just make sure he’s a Republican.” In Marco Rubio, the Gipper would be proud. In Marco Rubio, Ronald Reagan would also find an heir to his legacy in more ways than one. But before I explain how Rubio...

Florida, Other Senate Races Pit Conservative Base Against Moderate Recruits By David Weigel 5/14/09 1:41 PM Gov. Charlie Crist (R-Fla.) and Former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) (usembassy.gov, myfloridahouse.gov) On March 11, when Gov. Charlie Crist (R-Fla.) entered the 2010 U.S. Senate race, Marco Rubio was in Washington. The former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives was ready for this moment, rumored for weeks, the entry of a Republican party dream candidate who threatened to push him out of the race. When Crist put out a press release announcing the run, RubioÂ’s campaign pushed out a Web ad...

Crist made it official with an email announcement that he's running for US Senate in 2010. Shortly after, the other declared Republican candidate Marco Rubio issued his own email - a youtube ad characterizing the race as a battle for the soul of the GOP. The ad ends with a photo of President Obama and Gov. Crist and the statement "let the debate begin." Crist supported the Democratic President's stimulus package and defended his position during a brief news conference. "We do things a little bit differently here in Florida and that's another reason that I run for the US...

The expected announcement Tuesday by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist that he’s running for the Senate would seem to be a rare bit of good news for beleaguered Republicans. But while Crist is a brand-name recruit with sky-high approval ratings and bipartisan appeal, his path to keeping the seat of retiring Sen. Mel Martinez in GOP hands has at least one significant roadblock: Sunshine State conservatives. Despite Crist’s widespread popularity, he faces a primary in which he will have to make his case to a restless GOP base dissatisfied with his high-profile advocacy for President Barack Obama’s stimulus and his handling...

Is Charlie Crist the new Arlen Specter? No, there’s no indication the Florida governor is looking at a party switch. But much like with Specter, conservative Republicans in Florida are speaking out against Crist and hoping his apostasy on the federal stimulus will open the door for a conservative to take him down. The parallels are striking, both because Crist and Specter were among so few major Republicans to support the stimulus and because both are set to wage big-time Senate campaigns in which they face primary challengers. There isn’t yet a chorus of anti-Crist voices in the Florida Republican...

BY BETH REINHARD Three months after starting to raise money for a U.S. Senate race, former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio on Tuesday confirmed the obvious: He's a candidate. Rubio's announcement made good on his promise not to be cowed by a potential rivalry with Gov. Charlie Crist, the most popular politician in Florida. Crist is expected to announce his political plans after Friday's final vote on the state budget. ''I don't think the odds are that long,'' Rubio said of his prospects against a potential Crist Senate run. ``Races of this magnitude are decided by who presents a clearer...

It is looking like Marco Rubio V. Charlie Crist in a battle for the direction of the Republican Party. This race would attract considerable national attention with Crist, representing a new, moderate path for Republicans going against a conservative, ideological foe. Rubio is a huge underdog, but I wouldn’t quite write him off as a dead dog. His fate depends in large part on whether his mentor, Jeb Bush, intervenes in the race on his behalf. That would make this the political story of the year with a former Republican governor turning against a sitting Republican governor. And Bush never...

Cornyn: Fla. Senate race 'open field' By POLITICO STAFF | 2/9/09 4:25 AM EST  Pressure Mounts On GOP Supporters The three Senate Republicans who say they’ll support the $827 billion economic recovery plan are facing pressure from both sides of the debate. A group of stimulus opponents led by Free­Republic.com founder Jim Robinson and Move America Forward chairwoman Melanie Morgan plans to protest outside the office of Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) at 10 a.m. Monday before moving on to the offices of Maine Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. Meanwhile, the group Americans United for Change is running...

TALLAHASSEE -- Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, of West Miami, is certain to run for the U.S. Senate seat in 2010, following Jeb Bush's decision not to become a candidate. In an interview, Rubio, Florida's first Cuban-American House speaker from 2006-2008, said he'd consider a run "about as seriously as you can consider anything." He'll have a formal announcement in a few weeks, he said, but he's already set up a Web site as a prelude to his campaign and sent out a video to top Republican donors around the state. "Look, U.S. Senate seats are very competitive and very...

Sen. Mel Martinez's announcement Tuesday that he would not seek a second term immediately set off speculation about possible candidates for his seat. The following is a look at people who have indicated interest or are the subject of speculation: Republicans - Former Gov. Jeb Bush. He is seriously considering a run and party and elected officials from Florida and beyond are encouraging him, according to a former political adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity because Bush is not ready to publicly discuss his plans. But for now, the official word from spokeswoman Kristy Campbell is this: "Governor Bush...