Posted on 04/17/2009 3:57:39 PM PDT by zaphod3000
The decision of Florida Republican Sen. Mel Martinez not to seek a second term has left a void on both sides of the political spectrum when it comes to the 2010 race, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted April 6-13.
Some of the high-profile prospects decided early-on not to seek the seat, such as former GOP Governor Jeb Bush and Democratic state Sen. Alex Sink.
Popular Republican Gov. Charlie Crist could change all that if he decided to seek the seat, although Quinnipiac says that voters by 42 percent to 26 percent would rather see him remain as governor. If Crist did run in a GOP primary against a list of potential candidates tested in the poll, he would garner 54 percent of the vote with all others in single digits.
SNIP
On the Republican side, former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio is unknown by 78 percent. Rubio has set up an exploratory committee for a Senate run.
Two-term Rep. Vern Buchanan is not familiar enough to 73 percent of voters for them to have an opinion of him.
Another former Florida House Speaker, Allan Bense, who was urged by some GOP leaders to run for the GOP Senate nomination in 2006 but declined (that's the primary Katharine Harris won), is unknown by 91 percent.
If you take Crist out of the equation, Buchanan leads with 16 percent, followed by Rubio at 11 percent and Bense at 3 percent with 66 percent undecided.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.cqpolitics.com ...
Not Crist.
I’m with Rubio. He is a rising conservative star in the party. He was the former speaker of the Florida House and regularly clashed with Crist.
I’ve heard Allen West’s name mentioned several times amongst grassrooters
We’ve got to deal with this “Reagan” issue here in Florida. Time and time again, i’ve seen Democrats and RINOs run campaign ads (Including Crist, and Tim “5 women ain’t enough” Mahoney) portraying themselves as the next Reagan.
We’ve got a large contingent of current and former Reagan Democrats here in Florida that get easily fooled by these ads. This will need to be addressed by qualified conservative candidates.
Maybe nows the time for McCollum to return.
“Popular Republican Gov. Charlie Crist could change all that if he decided to seek the seat, although Quinnipiac says that voters by 42 percent to 26 percent would rather see him remain as governor. If Crist did run in a GOP primary against a list of potential candidates tested in the poll, he would garner 54 percent of the vote with all others in single digits.”
Just say no to Charlie. He’s another liberal fellatiater for the False Messiah.
Same. Articulate, young, experienced, and conservative. What’s not to like? He has time to improve his name recognition.
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