What does GOP butt-kicking* mean for Crist v. Rubio?

Didn't take long for the talking heads on CNN to draw comparisons between Republican victories in Virginia and New Jersey and the Charlie Crist-Marco Rubio primary. Early results indicate independent voters played a big role, exhibiting a more conservative mindset.

So expect Rubio to continue to play up Crist's connections to President Obama and Crist to polish his conservative resume.

The race is starting to draw more national attention. Tomorrow, the Wall Street Journal will carry an article on the matchup: "Taking down Mr. Crist in Florida, who only last year was considered a potential running mate for Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, would be an achievement for the conservative movement. Mr. Crist, who enjoys substantial advantages in money and voter recognition, appears to be responding by stressing in new radio ads his conservative positions on government spending and taxes."

* One downside for the GOP is the hard-fought Upstate New York Congressional seat. About midnight, the race went to Democrat Bill Owens, a stunning defeat for Sarah Palin et al. That could serve as a warning to conservatives trying to purge more moderate members of the Republican Party.

Comments

[Independent for Rubio]

I'm a registered independent. But I plan to register Republican so I can vote for Marco Rubio. I'm disgusted by Charlie Crist. He's a disgrace as Governor, and he has consistently put his ambition above what is best for Florida. He has not earned my vote for Senate, and certainly has not earned the right to be re-elected Governor. Tonight's results should send a clear message. Rubio should run hard. He can win.

[One More]

I met this morning with a former Republican voter who is now Independent. I explained the Rubio vs Crist race and he went straight to register Republican so that he can vote for Rubio.

[Count me out]

I'm a registered Republican. I'll vote for Crist in the primary unless it looks like Rubio might win. Since I want to see Meek in office, I'll do all I can to see him face the weaker of the two corporate sellouts the GOP has to offer.

[curious]

I'm interested to see how much real rubio support there is in florida. I like rubio a lot but it looks like a good portion of his online buzz comes in the way of paid support from dc insiders and bloggers outside of florida. time will tell.

[What a great night]

Great night for Republicans and the GOP!

The close NY 23 race was good news for conservatives in the upcoming FL 2010 Senate race, as Democrats cannot vote in a closed Republican primary.

And Hoffman, while a conservative, is no Marco Rubio. Hoffman was unknown 30 days ago. Marco Rubio is the former Speaker of the FL House after serving 8 years in the Legislature. Marco is intelligent, telegenic, articulate, and has also won winning every straw poll in FL.

And according to the latest Rasmussen poll, Rubio can beat his Democrat opponent Kendrick Meek by 15 points, a larger margin than the governor who polled a win by 12.

[Crist is in better shape than previously thought]

The loss by the conservative candidate in NY-23 sends a strong message that benefits Crist - you can't win a swing seat (or state) by running a candidate who is so far outside the mainstream. That needs to be Crist's message.

Rubio is Florida's Doug Hoffman, and at the end of the day, Hoffman lost.

[Gov. Crist has a RINO record]

12:21 OH sure, love the Gov. Crist bloggers! So far Marco has been labeled Ron Paul, then Katherine Harris, and now Doug Hoffman.

Your wish. And Marco can make his honest, principled case in Spanish too.

By governing to the left of center since 2007 (and it is his record)
Gov. Crist will lose the primary.

[What a great night (gulp gulp gulp)]

12:21 Puh-lease. Let the little wingnuts vent. They think Atilla the Hun has a good shot for Prez in 2010.

[Tail's waggin the elephant]

These far right wingnuts are the real RINOs. Honesty dictates that they quit trying to take over the GOP and instead refer to themselves henceforth as Fascist-Libertarians.

[St Pete native]

Does anyone think it is possible that the elections had little to do with Obama (as exit polls indicate) and more to do with the candidates and the off-year low turnout which almost always draws more unhappy voters than happy voters.

[St Pete native]

Gov Crist can take comfort in the fact that while the GOP made gains in this off-year, low-turnout election, in the conservative vs moderate race (NY), the moderate handily beat the conservative.

[Republican Resurgence]

I am a Marco Rubio supporter and I'll vote for him in the primary. However, I will vote for the winner (Crist or Rubio) in the general election.

The point is, I'm a conservative Republican myself. However, I find the RINO label inappropriate and there should be more acceptance of moderates in the Republican Party.

We won't always agree, but on the most basic principles, we will every time. To win a majority, you need hardliners and fence-sitters and to steal a few from the other side.

All this RINO talk is going to set us back.

[John]

I really like Marco Rubio, but having Gov Crist on the ballot may mean GOP sweep in the downballots. I hate to see Rubio winning the Senate seat only to see it help Sink or other democrats win in the governors race or cabinet position.

I think it's much safer having Crist on the ballot. If Rubio loses this time around, we definitely want him in 2012 to replace the idiot Bill Nelson

[JMS]

I think it is worth noting that in the NY-23 race about 5% of the voters still voted for Scozzafava even though she had dropped out, so really there are 2 ways to look at it: 1. About 51% of the district voted for a "conservative" candidate or 2. had Scozzafava actually run in a primary and lost to Hoffman, he would have beaten Owens. Either way, it is a good sign for the GOP and I would bet that Owens gets one full year in Congress before getting trampled next November.

[DEM switched to REP to vote for Marco Rubio]

A lifelong Democrat who attended Marco's Monday night packed house event at Crabby Bill's just switched to Republican to vote for Marco.

He cited the Terry Schiavo case and Charlie Crist as Florida Attorney General at the time.

[Rubio for Senate]

Great night!
BYE BYE RINO'S!

[Cynical Idealist]

I really enjoy the conservatives talking about chasing off the moderates from the republican party.

If that happens, there'll be, what, about six republicans left?

The Christian Coalition tried purging all the conservatives and moderates in the party who didn't pledge fealty to their view of faith-dominated politics. How'd that work out? About the same as this attempted putsch will...

I find it interesting that neither party has figured out that, on their own, they will NEVER realize enough votes to gain a majority.

Memo to both parties: you MUST appeal to independents.

Otherwise, you can go sit in the corner and play with yourselves...

[Rubio for il duce]

Great night!
BYE BYE RINO'S!
HELLO OLIGARCHY!

[alice]

RUN MARCO RUN WE NEED YOU NOW MORE THAN EVER. CRIST IS AN EMPTY SUIT WITH A TAN.

[Just sayin']

It may have been somewhat of a referendum on Obama, but the fact is...New Jersey was in terrible shape. Corzine was a terrible governor.

Virginia also is not a Red or Blue state. It is evenly split, much like Florida. And still leans slightly conservative, much like Florida.

Couple that with the fact that Deeds in VA and Corzine in NJ seemed to be running against George Bush instead of their respective opponents. That's a recipe for disaster.

Heck, Obama is still running against George Bush..."I inherited this, blah, blah, blah..." Obama needs to man up and realize that he IS the President...he asked for it, he said he could fix the problems. Enough with the excuses...this is his economy now. It's also his war in Afghanistan. Fix it or step aside.

And here is a newsflash to Democrats running for future elections: GEORGE BUSH ISN'T RUNNING FOR ANYTHING!

[Just apologizin' for Bush and beggin' you to forget]

Republicans would dearly love for us to forget Reagan-Bush and the horrible situation they have created in the USA. I certainly hope that President Obama and the other Democrats we elected will right the sinking ship, but it would be a big mistake to not remember who's responsible. If they ever return to power, they will just continue their agenda of wealth redistribution to the filthy rich, and the corporate sellout of our government. We must be ever mindful, ignore their paid "liars for hire" like "just spraying", and never let it happen again.

[Lesson to Learn]

New York showed the division of the wingnuts and the largest less-vocal part of the Republican Party, like a Republican primary does here. Rubio and his peeps should be very worried about that race.

[Real Republican Voter]

I love all the phony posts by "Independents" for Rubio. Let's be honest. Rubio = Hoffman = Loser in the general election. Crist is not a RINO, since according to the Rubio supporters, everyone who isn't Dick Armey is a RINO. Guess what, not every state is TX or SC. Without some moderates in the party, Republicans will lose in the general election. Running simply as the most conservative = losing. End of story, plain and simple.

[Ed]

BY, BY, Charlie, we had enough of you.

[A Win for Crist]

Last night was a win for Crist in NY23 - showed that simply running as "the conservative" isn't enough. Crist, with a real record of serving ALL the citizens of the state of FL, is best positioned to win the general election.

[Rubio = Hoffman = Loser]

Rubio = Hoffman = Loser

[Rose Colored Glasses]

Wow! That is a lot of spinning to somehow twist the Scazzafazza loss as a win for Crist? The Crist-like candidate dropped out of the race in disgrace and that is somehow a promising sign for Crist?

[Winners & Losers from yesterday's election.]

Winners & Losers from yesterday's election.

http://bit.ly/31QSmj #kyc09

[Crist vs Obama]

On the issues:

CAP AND TRADE
Obama Supports
Crist Supports

MASSIVE GOV'T SPENDING (Stimulus)
Obama Supports
Crist Supports

LIBERAL ACTIVIST JUDGES
Obama Nominates
Crist Nominates

GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE IN MARKETS
Obama Supports
Crist Supports

HIGHER TAXES
Obama Supports
Crist Supports (But he calls them "fees")

I'm sorry, I'm having a hard time telling the difference.

[.]

To curious - have you ever stopped to wonder why so much of Charlie Crist's fundraising is being down OUTSIDE OF THE STATE???

[Clearwatermike]

In regards to the New York race, a comment from CT in a CNN article said: "The complication in this race is that one county in the 23rd district is using PAPER BALLOTS because of a problem with voting machines. These paper ballots cannot be counted until the absentee ballots are counted one week from today. I (meaning CT) can see this turning into a court fiasco..." More to follow in the next post from me.

[Moderates good, rino's BAD]

Think there is a huge difference between driving out RINO's and driving out "moderates" from the republican party.

First of all no one is trying to drive out moderates since most modertaes are solid republicans who believe in less government/lower taxes.

The ones who need to be driven out are RINO's who are either using the party to advance their political careers
(Charlie Crist) or who call themselves republicans but don't vote for republican issues or believe in the core values of the party (Charlie Crist...again...Arlen Spectre, Susan Collins, Olymia Snow and the Rep from New York 23 who bailed the supported the DEMOCRAT against Hoffman).

[.]

The Crist lovers are running scared... Think it's hilarious! Can't wait until next August when we can finally say BYE BYE to Charlie Crist!!!

Charlie can't run on his record as governor... After all, he's viewed as possibly the worst governor ever by many.

I know, now Greer and his hired phony balonies are going to start stroking out and responding like crazy. Don't care what you have to say. Your man is done!

[LEMIEUX=CRIST=SPECTER]

Just like the good little RINO opportunist traitor he is, I'm sure Chuckles the Clown is relieved that Hoffman lost. Chuckles has had a bad few weeks, so we'll let him enjoy his fellow Democrat's victory in NY.

Had Hoffman won, it would have only been icing on the cake for conservatives intent on defeating the backstabbing RINO Scozzawhatever.

So in that regard, conservatives won that battle against the GOP establishment, the GOP Washington insiders, the party bosses there in NY (Greer-like stooges), and most importantly conveyed the message that some backstabbing RINO with no philosophical compass like Scozzawhatever and Chuckles will not only be unwelcome in the party, but will not win elections, either.

Conservatives around the country are now angry and can legitimately blame the NRCC and the other GOP establishment types for anointing and spending millions on a RINO who repaid their "generosity" by endorsing the Democrat and cyphoning enough votes away from Hoffman. And if any of you Chuckles sycophants think for one minute that Chuckles is incapable of that, it shows what gullible schlepps you really are.

Although we conservatives didn't win the so-called "Battle of NY23," we captured enough territory to claim a partial victory--a victory against RINOism, turncoatism, philosophical treachery, and party boss politics. NY23 was merely Hoffman's primary against the RINO Scozzawhatever. He won that primary and will win the seat in 2010.

So onward and RIGHTward south we go to the next major political battle for the heart and soul of our once-great party: Florida. Here is where we will finally rid ourselves once and for all of that spray-tanned locust that jumps from office to office, disgracing each one as he goes: Chuckles the Clown.

[Take A. Lesson]

How can anyone think the NY election was good for Rubio? The candidate who ran as the conservative lost--the LOSER was the right-wing extremist. Do you think it's better that a Democrat won? Clearly, the right-wing conservative candidate backed by Dick Armey and Palin, was the loser. Sure there was a split between moderate Rs and the right wing, but the end result was that the party lost. How can you even dream -and that's all it is--that's good for Rubio?

[terminator]

John:
we know Chuckels the Clown is really good on the "down" ballot!
Real Republicans will be voting for Marco not the spray tan fairy with a suit.

[...]

Take a lesson - absolutely correct, it was a loss for those who were more conservative... but when push came to shove, the moderate candidate bailed and supported the democrat... it is the RINOs that are killing the party...

How could the party-supported candidate bail and push support to the democrat?

Scozzaphrenia = Spector = Crist = opportunist

[John]

Curious....you have it backward...Crist is the one relying on out of Stae support...Rubio is getting in State support...
Where was Crist Last week? Las Vegas and California fund raising...where is he this week fund raising?

[Take A lesson in reality]

Doug Hoffman is no Marco Rubio. Hoffman was unknown until a month ago. What the race did show was that the NRCC had it wrong. Their candidate of choice had no core convictions or integrity. Reality: in 2010 in the Senate race in Florida is a CLOSED Republican primary, the NY 23 was not. Rubio is beating Meek by 15 points. Marco stays on message with Gov Crist's record as noted at 10:07 and will win.

[Clearwatermike]

The volatility of NY23 was reflected in the polls. Siena's poll of 10/31 showed the Dem ahead by 1% over the Conservative. The Rep had a 20% share with 9% undecided. When the Rep withdrew, Siena's poll of 11/2 showed the Conservative ahead by +5%. The Rep still had a 5% share with a 17% undecided. As of now, 88% of the votes have been counted with the Dem ahead by 3%. The Rep candidate who endorsed the Dem, got 5% of the vote.

[trolls working here]

the first two posts are the dumbest trolling posts i've ever seen.

0/10 for both of you

[Lots of trolls]

Gotta agree with 11:46 AM - can you guys make it any more obvious????

That said, any explanation whereby NY23 is good for Rubio is specious at best. To me, both candidates (Scozzafava and Hoffman) were wrong for NY23, a right leaning district. Scozzafava was too liberal (card check, pro-choice, unions, etc., offering nothing to mainstream Republicans) and Hoffman was too conservative (just ran as "the conservative" without any real ideas, just philosophical teaparty guy stuff). Hoffman also had never run for anything before and didn't even live in the district. That alone is reason to claim Hoffman as the real "opportunist." You need a candidate that truly reflects the district. Personally, I think Charlie Crist represents the feelings of most Floridians because he doesn't always adhere to the right wing ideology. This is a purple state. A purple candidate will run strongest here. Comparing Crist to Scozzafava sounds ridiculous. Crist is pro-life, pro-gun, gave us the largest tax cut in FL history, etc., etc. Sorry to break it to you guys, but the ONLY place Crist qualifies as a liberal is on this blog and in a couple of RECs out there.

[Big REC troll]

WE VOTE!
WE TROLL FOR VOTES!

TROLL POWER!!!

Rubio will win, George Will says so, and so do us TROLLS!!!!!!