Rubio’s Surge Continues
Scott Rasmussen’s polling shows Marco Rubio surging past Charlie Crist in the Florida GOP primary for the U.S. Senate seat that Mel Martinez held from 2005 through 2009:
Former state House Speaker Marco Rubio has now jumped to a 12-point lead over Governor Charlie Crist in Florida’s Republican Primary race for the U.S. Senate.
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely GOP Primary voters in the state finds Rubio leading Crist 49% to 37%. Three percent (3%) prefer another candidate, and 11% are undecided.
Crist’s slide isn’t likely to stop anytime soon, especially with Rubio announcing a fundraising bomb as a reminder of Crist’s support of President Obama’s failed stimulus plan. If you want to be part of the solution to this nation’s out-of-control spending problems, then it’s important that you contribute to Mr. Rubio’s campaign.
Crist’s fortunes appear to be tied in part to national unhappiness over President Obama and his policies. Many conservatives began rebelling against Crist when he became one of the few Republican governors to embrace Obama’s $787-billion economic stimulus plan last year. The national Republican party establishment endorsed Crist early on, but a number of prominent national party conservatives have since announced their support for Rubio. Nationally, the GOP’s Florida Senate race is being watched as a test of the new “Tea Party” mood among many conservative and traditionally Republican voters.
Charlie Crist made the same type of mistake that Martha Coakley made: he underestimated his opponent. gov. Crist thought getting the NRSC’s endorsement meant that he’d coast to victory. Coakley thought that winning the Democratic primary meant a cakewalk to the U.S. Senate.
That’s always been a no-no. It’s a bigger no-no today than at any point in history because of the power of the internet. Saying that it’s a brave new world is understatement. People that think high name recognition is the only thing that’s needed to punch their ticket to the next level are living in a world that simply doesn’t exist anymore.
Rubio is viewed favorably by 67% of primary voters and unfavorably by only14%. These numbers include 35% with a very favorable opinion of the Cuban-American candidate versus four percent (4%) with a very unfavorable view.
Perhaps more telling for Crist is that just 56% of Republican Primary voters approve of the job he is now doing as governor. Forty-three percent (43%) disapprove of his job performance.
Simply put, Gov. Crist is viewed as just another go-along-to-get-along politician. We’re overstocked in that department. What’s needed are more candidates that aren’t cookie-cutter politicians. We need more convictions-based politicians. Gov. Crist is cookie-cutter. Marco Rubio is convictions-based.
If Mr. Rubio keeps outworking Gov. Crist, he’ll beat Crist if Crist doesn’t drop out before the primary. That’s the difference between a politician with name ID and a politician with a great message.
Technorati Tags: Polling, Marco Rubio, TEA Parties, Fiscal Restraint, Fundraising Bomb, Conservatism, Charlie Crist, RINO, Martha Coakley, Stimulus, Establishment, Name Recognition, Primary, Election 2010
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog