Florida: A Battle for Senate - And the GOP's Soul

[bobbyw24]

In Florida, Opponents Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio Offer Two Very Different Visions for the Future of the Republican Party

Florida Senate hopeful Marco Rubio is sitting in a hotel lobby in midtown Manhattan, arguing that his Republican Party has a decision to make.

"It's what the party's going to be about," says Rubio, the 38-year-old former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. "It's not a choice between two evil paths. It's a choice between one I believe is right and one I believe is wrong."

A choice, in other words, between Marco Rubio and Charlie Crist.

Rubio and Crist are competing against each other in a Republican primary to fill the seat previously held by Republican Mel Martinez, who resigned in August. (The current senator, George LeMieux - who was appointed by Crist - has said he's not going to run.)

When he announced in May that he was running for the seat, Crist was expected to have a relatively easy time winning the primary, and then the general election: A popular Republican governor with the backing of the GOP establishment, he'd staked out moderate positions on climate change and government spending that made him palatable to Florida's independents and Democrats.

http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2009/11/09/image5589838g.jpg

Six months on, however, Crist looks vulnerable. His poll numbers are down, though he still has a sizable, if shrinking, lead over Rubio. What he does not have is the enthusiasm of the state's Republican activists, who have repeatedly indicated their preference for Rubio in straw polls.

Continue

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/09/politics/main5591771.shtml

[Matt Collins]

The RPOF booted Ron Paul Republicans from the Party.... simply for supporting Ron Paul. Don't take my word for it, do your own research.


Here is a good place to start:
http://www.rlc.org/2009/07/10/stjohns-gop-bullies/
http://www.rlc.org/2009/07/15/floridas-gop-purge-intensifies/
http://www.rlc.org/2009/09/04/jim-greer-war-on-liberty/
http://www.rlc.org/2009/09/09/party-purge-in-the-news/
http://www.rlc.org/2009/09/07/rlc-stands-up-for-florida-chapter-members/
http://www.rlc.org/2009/09/09/action-alert-for-liberty/
http://www.rlc.org/2009/11/02/record-low-reg-but-gop-keeps-booting/

[bobbyw24]

The RPOF booted Ron Paul Republicans from the Party.... simply for supporting Ron Paul. Don't take my word for it, do your own research.

I saw it happen first hand to Will Pitts, chair of Fla RLC

[Matt Collins]

I saw it happen first hand to Will Pitts, chair of Fla RLC
They are trying to do it to me too here in Nashville.

[bobbyw24]

They are trying to do it to me too here in Nashville.

So much for the Big Tent propaganda

[s35wf]

so who is the "ron paulers" choice??? and when will the election be? i need to know who i should consider giving my vote to and when its coming up.

dont think i'd give mr christ my vote since central FL got NO $$$ to help people with foreclosures I believe i read somewhere christ made sure those funds went to south florida & mostly the "hispanic" communities/organizations??? or am i wrong.

It takes tooo much time to keep up with all the sh*t happening & im coming into what one could call a busy time for work and attempting to earn those FRN's; so ill have to rely on YOU guys to keep me up to speed! ;)

[sofia]

Rubio went to Aspen "bipartisanship" training program.

[specsaregood]

Rubio. What he does not have is the enthusiasm of the state's Republican activists, who have repeatedly indicated their preference for Rubio in straw polls.


I like how the "straw polls" all of a sudden have relevence when it is one of their chosen people winning them....

[Elwar]

I've been hearing a Crist commercial where he mentions that he balanced the budget (thanks to the stimulus money and tax hikes) and that he received an "A" rating from Cato.

Here's Cato's response:

According to the Herald’s Naked Politics (October 16), Gov. Charlie Crist is trumpeting his grade of “A” on Cato’s “Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors.” The governor earned the grade in last year’s report based mainly on his property tax cuts and moderate spending approach.

I am pleased that Crist values Cato’s ratings because we work hard to make them accurate and nonpartisan. But as the report’s author, I am concerned that the governor has fallen off the fiscal responsibility horse since the report was written in mid-2008.



In particular, Crist approved a huge $2.2 billion tax increase for the fiscal 2010 budget, even though he had promised that $12 billion in federal “stimulus” money showered on Florida over three years would obviate the need for tax increases.

About $1 billion of the tax increases are on cigarette consumers, which will particularly harm moderate-income families. The rest of the increases are in the form of higher costs for often mandatory services, such as automobile registration, which is really just a sneaky form of tax increases.

These tax increases will be particularly painful to Floridians in the short-term because of the recession. But Crist has also jeopardized the state’s long-term finances with his expanded subsidies for hurricane insurance. Hurricanes are a major challenge in Florida, but giving big subsidies to coastal property owners, driving private insurers out of the state, and guaranteeing a massive state bailout when the next hurricane hits strikes me as the height of fiscally irresponsibility.

Sincerely,

Chris Edwards

Director of Tax Policy

Cato Institute

[s35wf]

I've been hearing a Crist commercial where he mentions that he balanced the budget (thanks to the stimulus money and tax hikes) and that he received an "A" rating from Cato.

Here's Cato's response:



thank you for the "REAL" news. :)