Don't bet on Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio
So says Patrick Ruffini, dismissing the importance of money in a statewide campaign:
We have two uniquely talented people running for Senate in a seat we will probably hold in Florida. Instead of elbowing one aside, we should be grabbing the popcorn and watching this one go the distance.
The primary will be close. Among voters who know both, Crist and Rubio are tied. Crist's money will not buy him more name ID or goodwill; only his bully pulpit as governor can do that, and he's surrendering it. Meanwhile, Rubio's talents as a candidate, his crossover potential, and his appeal to grassroots conservatives mean he has nowhere to go but up. I still think Crist narrowly wins absent a massive screwup, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. Recent elections have not been kind to moneyed "frontrunners."
From the writers of the St. Petersburg Times, The Buzz offers the latest news in Florida politics. This is a public forum sponsored and maintained by the St. Petersburg Times. When you post comments here, what you say becomes public and could appear in the newspaper. You are not engaging in private communication with candidates or Times staffers.
GO MARCO GO!!!!!!! YOU CAN BEAT HIM....TRUE REPUBLICANS NEED YOU
Posted by: Real Republican | July 13, 2009 at 08:47 AM
Rubio's "crorssover potential"??? What, do we have lots of neo-nazis here in Florida?
Posted by: Herr Rubio | July 13, 2009 at 09:00 AM
Based on Chuck's numbers, it would seem we have a boatload of homo nazis here in Floriduuh!
Marco is a leader... Chuck; a tool.
Posted by: No More Chuck! | July 13, 2009 at 09:03 AM
Run Marco Run we need you now more than ever. Crist is nothing more than an empty suit with a tan. He is a good buddy of Obama and loves his pork filled stimulus spending package and Cap & Trade tax. Does that sound like Crist is a republican? Crist is afraid to be on the same stage with Marco and as time goes on Crist's tan is starting to fade with the failing so called stimulus pork he supports.
Posted by: Alice | July 13, 2009 at 09:03 AM
Rubio for Senate!
Posted by: Jennifer | July 13, 2009 at 09:20 AM
If Dem's and Independent's could vote in the primary then Chuckles would have it in the bag. With just Republican's voting, not so much! GO RUBIO!!!
Posted by: True Conservative | July 13, 2009 at 09:32 AM
Patrick Ruffini? So this blog is actually giving credibility to some kid who for the last couple of election cycles was a “new media consultant” to Republicans. Anyone who consulted Republicans on “new media” should be fired considering how badly the Democrats kicked their but.
Posted by: What a Joke | July 13, 2009 at 09:36 AM
I will bet anyone Crist will beet him and will pay 10: 1 odds
Posted by: playa | July 13, 2009 at 09:42 AM
Riddle me this Ruffini... How can you fight for the "heart and soul" of the Republican Party & have crossover appeal?
It just ain't possible to be uberconservative and a big tenter.
Another note to Ruffini... when have you ever been in Florida working on campaigns? Florida is a TV state and you can only get on TV by raising money, even if it isn't via the internet. You can't tweet your way into office.
Posted by: beachbum | July 13, 2009 at 09:55 AM
It's encouraging to see that many Republicans have become aware of the growing threat posed to their party (and our nation) by the Fascist-Libertarians. These are wingnuts pure and simple who have little connection to the values of liberty and personal freedom which were once the hallmarks of the Libertatians. Instead, what you have now are a gang of anti-government, anti-humanitarian thugs who would destroy democracy and institute a Corpartist Oligarchy with de facto rule by the ultra-rich and their CEO minions. Although small government is their rallying cry, in fact they are perfectly happy with big government - like the recent Bush regime, as long as all the benefits accrue to their masters in the form of corporate welfare and deregualtion. Tax cuts for the rich are the icing on the cake - not only increasing their personal, but bankrupting the government, eroding people's confidence, and making meaningful change impossible. Don't be foolded by their false patriotism, or their so-called conservatism; think "corporate rule" and you have defined their Fascist-Libertarian platform in a nutshell. All else is window dressing, subterfuge, misdirection, lies and spin designed to further this aim.
Posted by: Herr Rubio | July 13, 2009 at 10:02 AM
Great article Patrick and so true.
Go Marco!!
Posted by: ::: | July 13, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Playa- Crist will "beet" Rubio? Is that the same thing as "squash"ing him?
Posted by: Annie Oakley | July 13, 2009 at 10:27 AM
Rubio can not win.
Posted by: Knowing | July 13, 2009 at 10:29 AM
I confess that I had never heard of Mr.Ruffini so I googled him and learned that he graduated from Penn in 2000, lives in DC, currently "advises candidates on mastering new media" and authors a blog.
Posted by: zenator | July 13, 2009 at 10:34 AM
Right Patrick... Just like you and David said Anuzis was going to roll over Steele. Try again, hack.
Posted by: uh... | July 13, 2009 at 10:39 AM
Zenator if you're a Republican and have not heard of Patrick Ruffini, I have this to ask, where were you during the 2008 Presidential election?
Do you read National political news daily? Watched any of the National Republican debates? Sounds as though you may have been folowing state news more.
Patrick Ruffini's blog is very well read, quoted and and traveled as is Frank Luntz'.
This race is 14 months out and it will take far more than money to win.
Gov. Crist does not have it in the bag as some presume.
The poll numbers on who knows both of the candidates speak volumes. A 2 point lead at 33-31 Crist over Rubio with a margin of error 6%. For a sitting governor?! This is fantastic news for Maro Rubio.
The picture of Pres. Obama and Gov. Crist hugging as he accepts & campaigns for the "stimulus" package will play very well for Marco Rubio in the minds of the primary voters.
Rubio is incredibly articulate, principled, focused and very intelligent. He gives solid, direct answers to questions when asked, and solutions to the problems we face ...unlike his opponent.
Posted by: Don't bank on Charlie Crist yet, wouldn't be prudent. | July 13, 2009 at 10:58 AM
You can't win state wide without money, and Rubio doesn't have the money to campaign county wide.
Posted by: ufalumni | July 13, 2009 at 11:16 AM
10:02= Morning, Pig! How was your weekend? Gettng a little long on the blather for so early in the week, aren't you? Missed you at the Rubio kegger!!!
Posted by: Buzzard. | July 13, 2009 at 11:37 AM
"Herr-Rubio"is just making up words now, Fascist-Libertarian? These are opposites idiot! Bush/Cheney are fascist not libertarian. Case in point:PATRIOT Act. You remember that, moron? 2001, is that too far back for you? Your comments are the stupidest I have read in a long time.
Posted by: RPOFoffiicial | July 13, 2009 at 11:49 AM
you forget that many more Republicans know only Charlie and will vote for him. Your assumption that voters will need to know both candidates in order to vote is not real life. Charlie will win in a landslide!
Posted by: twisted facts do not a win make | July 13, 2009 at 11:50 AM
If I had to Vote today. Rubio
Posted by: ToeCutter | July 13, 2009 at 12:37 PM
With the news coverage this primary is already recieving people will know Marco Rubio's name come next year, giving him a solid chance to beat Charlie Crist.
Posted by: Rubio Supporter | July 13, 2009 at 12:46 PM
Who is Marco Rubio? :)
Posted by: TurkeyWatchman | July 13, 2009 at 12:52 PM
Deregulating business's and at the same time putting constraints on workers rights is neo fascist/libertarian.
In the world of fascist libertarians injured workers would not be afforded equal representation,just like the current work comp law Chuckles the clown just wrote into law.The companies? They can spend as much as they want.Fascist/libertarians think huge corporate monopolies are perfectly Ok while workers collective bargaining should be illegal.
Fascist/libertarians believe lawsuits against corporations should be limited at least and at best illegal.
Look at all the cheering and flag waving over the work comp law that was signed into law twisting the seventh Amendment into something unrecognizable.
Posted by: fascist/libertarian/extremist wingnuts,,,all the same | July 13, 2009 at 12:53 PM
Rubio is meek and Meek is NOT.
If rubio does beat chuckles he will not stand a chance against Meek
Meek represents "the people" and now with the handlers that Rubio now has he represents big business.Facts are facts and that's the way it is,we all know it!
The non Business crowd that is supposed to gravitate towards Rubio is the southern gruff and tumble outdoors types and here is this soft spoken little fellow with his john edwards hair that just looks scared all the time.Now the handlers and those who finance his handlers are picturing a mel martinez type stand up,forceful TALL,friendly smile and CONFIDENT(tall dark and handsome)!!!
Where is he,they have hidden him away like Sarah Palin to just come out and speak in cliche's then go back into hiding.
Its the paid posters that are on the front lines and I have to say,as much as I dislike Chuckles,he doesn't use paid posters,he comes out and does his own talking.Rubio is hidden away like dubya before katrina!
Posted by: Rubio just isn't a strong candidate | July 13, 2009 at 01:16 PM
My vote goes to Marco !
Posted by: Charlie's mom | July 13, 2009 at 01:36 PM
1:16 Marco Rubio has no paid posters but genuine and committed grassroot supporters. Since you think Marco is so meek, why don't you ask him for a public debate?
You can e-mail your request to his website at MarcoRubio.com. Since
Gov. Crist is obviously avoiding him, why not step up to the plate and represent what you believe in?
Posted by: ::: | July 13, 2009 at 02:37 PM
1:16 - are you actually claiming that your greek freak boy is actually not afraid to come out of hiding and speak? maybe if it relates to a photo op or canned responses but if you truly believe he can debate rubio and hold his own, I'm with 2:37 - put your money where your mouth is and have your puppet debate. none of those "I'm busy governing" excuses when we all know he's been busy sucking up to the big boys for his cash.
Posted by: :: | July 13, 2009 at 03:36 PM
Wow, a lot of emotion over someone noone even knows exists!
Problem is- both the candidates suck wind. The infamous choice between a "turd sandwich" or a "giant douche."
Posted by: Scholetme my scheletme | July 13, 2009 at 04:05 PM
you will not like or recognize marco rubio after crist unleashes 10 mil of negative ads against rubio. he is way too green and no moola to spend. crist will hit him with sansom and some disclosures yet to come about his involvement in a gambling deal. it will be in the neighborhood of 65 to 35 at best.
Posted by: kevin | July 13, 2009 at 05:03 PM
In one of his first acts as governor in Jan of 2007, Charlie Crist dismissed 284 (all but one) of the "greatest governor in the country" appointments, though he had been governor for less than 2 weeks.
Gov. Crist campaigned as "Chain Gang Charlie" to emphasize his alleged tough position on crime, then right after his inauguration immediately pursued restoring convicted felons rights to vote (RCR) against the legal advice of the Attorney General. Crist did this to lay the political ground work for a National run.
Crist extended voting hours during the 2008 Presidential election which permitted 5,000 more Democrats to vote per hour.
Gov. Crist has expanded gambling in the state of Florida at a rate never witnessed before, and was rebuked by the Florida Supreme Court for violating the Florida Constitution for circumventing the Florida legislature.
Crist has publicly expressed his support for tax payer funding of Embryonic Stem Cell Research which destroys innocent human life, which is not only immoral but scientifically does not work, and has yet to yield one success.
For political gain, Gov. Crist has esentially destroyed and socialized the insurance industry in Florida leaving property owners and the Florida taxpayers at a huge financial risk.
The governor has rarely been at work in Tallahassee but been consumed with campaigning for VEEP and now the U.S. Senate since taking office.
Crist has publicly supported, campaigned and and embraced
Pres. Obama's disastrous "stimulus" package loaded with trillions of pork barrel spending which will not create jobs or boost the economy in our state or at the national level. Crist supported this though NOT ONE Republican in Congress from Florida voted for it.
Gov. Crist 100% embraces the false "science" of Global Warming even attending the CLINTON GLOBLAL INITIATIVE in N.Y. with Bill Clinton Al Gore, Gov. Schwarzennegar, Brad Pitt, Ted Turner etc.
Crist also supports Cap and Trade policies which will harm small businesses in Florida with huge costs which will be passed on to the consumer but not effect lowering the temperature.
Gov. Crist recently appointed a liberal ACLU backed Democrat to the Florida Supreme Court shifting the court further to the left.
Less than 2 weeks ago, Gov. Crist was (again) smacked down by the Florida Supreme Court
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-edped-crist-judges-diversity-07070809jul08,0,4672645.story
for violating the Florida Consitution by not appointing a judge to the bench whose names were selected by HIS hand picked J.N.C.
Gov. Crist has another fundraiser in N.Y. this week at the home of a N.Y. City Real Housewive, with the thrice married gambling mogul Donald Trump as a host.
Under Gov. Crist's "conservative" leadership, FLORIDA lost the Presidential election to the Democrats for the first time since 1976.
Kevin this is not the last race. Primary voters will remember.
Though the governor is very friendly, his actions are neither Republican or conservative. Charlie Crist has governed as a self serving political opportunist attempting to aspire for higher office. This behavior is what is wrong with our party. A total leadrship vacuum.
Posted by: Kevin people are paying intention, actions speak louder than words | July 13, 2009 at 06:18 PM
It will be interesting to watch the debates between these two...
Charlie is not a master-debater (wink...)...He had it easy against Tom Gallagher, because Gallagher was such a complete moron and looks like a used car salesman.
Rubio is a lot smarter than Charlie Crist and will be able to back Charlie into a corner on a whole host of different issues.
Grab yer popcorn and beer, because this could get entertaining! Drink twice every time Charlie says "drop like a rock"!
Posted by: just sayin' | July 13, 2009 at 07:00 PM
Patrick Ruffini has no experience in Florida. How can he possibly comprehend the amount of money and grassroots support it takes to win in FL. He's an idiot and irrelevant.
Posted by: No Florida Experience | July 13, 2009 at 09:58 PM
Charlie is A RINO’s RINO
Larry Thornberry clues in Sen. John Cornyn
Senator John Cornyn,
Chairman, Committee to Keep Republicans a Pathetic Bunch of Me-Too Irrelevancies
Washington, D.C.
Cornyn:
You just don’t get it, do you? Elected national Republicans have been behaving like Democrats-Lite for the past couple of election cycles, and have gotten exactly what this kind of behavior deserves at the polls.
So with ample evidence that a squishy, testosterone-free, I-feel-very-strongly-both-ways approach just won’t do, you still insist on supporting that RINO’s RINO, Charlie Crist. Do you prefer being in the minority? Are you just pining for Arlen Specter and Lincoln Chafee? Do you secretly loathe your own party?
The conservative Florida Republicans I know wouldn’t vote for Charlie Crist for rat-catcher. Any why should they? He stands for nothing that would inconvenience the pell-mell rush to the Left being pushed by the current socialist administration. In the Senate you could count on him to support the other side on major items.
Crist was a booster of President Obama’s toxic “stimulus” package, actually appearing on stage with Obama in Florida to whoop it up. He’s for an economy-crushing carbon cap and trade system. He’s trying to get the Florida Legislature to force Florida utilities to generate an unrealistically high portion of their electric power with the use of “alternative” fuels (i.e., fuels that don’t exist except in the child-like minds of environmentalists). He wants expensive California-style auto emissions standards for Florida cars. He’s pro-abortion. He’s cool with marriage-like arrangements between homosexuals. He recently appointed a liberal Democrat to the Florida Supreme Court.
With Republicans who support stuff like this, what the hell do we need Democrats for? And conversely, what’s the point of having Republicans?
For heaven’s sake, John, You shouldn’t have to read the above list too many times to realize THESE ARE THINGS THAT DEMOCRATS DO. This is not opposition to the Democrat/socialists. This is hire and salary. Instead of supporting Crist for the U.S. Senate, you should be organizing a detail to frog-march him to his local supervisor of elections office, there to oblige him to register as the Democrat he is.
By the way, there’s a real Republican in the Senate race. His name is Marco Rubio, and he’s a former Speaker of the House of the Florida Legislature. He’s young, intelligent, articulate, energetic, and conservative. You could look it up. You should.
The Republican Party is scheduled for extinction if its leaders can’t understand that it will never succeed until it stands for conservative principles in opposition to the Democrats, who are presently punching above their weight because a limp, directionless, Charlie Crist-ridden Republican Party is allowing them to. The future of the Republican Party, if it’s to have one, lies in the hands of the nation’s Marco Rubios, not its Charlie Crists.
So John, give yourself a testosterone booster shot, re-read all of Ronald Reagan’s speeches, and then go out there and do what’s right. Surprise us all and stand for something.
Cordially,
Larry Thornberry – Tampa
PS: If you reject good sense and principle and insist on supporting Crist in 2010, I have a suggestion for a bumper strip you could use in Florida, to wit; “Vote Republican: Our liberals can beat their liberals.”
Posted by: Go Marco! | July 14, 2009 at 12:39 AM
I understand that some posters want badly to share their "programing" material with us and that the material makes so much sense to them and how all this has opened their eyes and given them a warm and fuzzy feeling when they look at it,,,,but come on guys' I am getting carpel tunnel from scrolling past
this poo.I can see a paragraph of cut and paste but beyond that, allow a set up and link.I love these blogs and think its very well done but this cut and pasting of books is overboard.
Posted by: please stop these long cut and paste's that have nothing to do with the topic | July 14, 2009 at 08:43 AM
CRIST LOVES OBAMA AND FAILING STIMULUS PACKAGE AND YOU STILL CALL HIM A REPUBLICAN? HE IS NOTHING MORE THAN A LIBERAL EMPTY SUIT WITH A TAN THAT IS STARTING TO FADE ALONG WITH HIS PORK FILLED STIMULUS. CRIST IS THE NEW STIMULUS CZAR.
Posted by: alice | July 14, 2009 at 03:09 PM
Sources Say Rubio Reconsidering Senate Race
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Florida. Two Republican sources said today that even as former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio campaigns for retiring GOP Sen. Mel Martinez's Senate seat, he has been calling around to top Republican donors and activists in the state to discuss the idea of switching from the Senate primary against GOP Gov. Charlie Crist and into the open-seat race for attorney general, where a serious Republican candidate has yet to emerge.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressdaily/p_20090715_2565.php
Posted by: Crist for Senator! | July 15, 2009 at 06:10 PM