Rand Paul vs. Marco Rubio???

[bobbyw24]

Conservative Inc.’s branch office in Florida

If Ron Paul runs for President in 2012 his campaign may want to consider skipping the Florida primary altogether and save itself the expense of competing in what would be a very difficult state for him. Not only was it his worst state in 2008 primaries, but the ascension of state House Speaker Marco Rubio to be it’s nominee for the U.S. Senate means that the state’s GOP has become a branch office for Conservative Inc.

It was Conservative Inc. that fueled Rubio’s rise. Their organizations funded his campaign which made it a credible enough alternative for Florida GOPers to turn to when Gov. Charlie Crist’s popularity ratings collapsed from the summer of 2009 until this past week’s announcement of his abandonment of the party for the upcoming U.S. Senate race.

http://www.amconmag.com/magcover.jpg

There was another announcement about the Florida senate race a week ago that received much less attention but was just as significant. For New Hampshire U.S. Senator Bob Smith, who had relocated to Florida, had started a campaign for Senate last year and planned to run to Rubio’s Right. Indeed, Rubio provided opening from that flank when he criticized Arizona’s new immigration law. Instead, due to a lack of support and money, Smith ended his campaign. Thus, the only Right alternative in the U.S. Senate race will be the Constitution Party’s candidate Bernie DeCastro. Or for Libertarians, Alex Snitker.

SNIP

If both Rubio and Rand Paul both are able to make their way to Washington this fall, you could be seeing two future leaders of two factions that will be battling for control of the party in the future. The party establishment can only watch and take their cues from the winner.

http://www.amconmag.com/blog/2010/05/01/conservative-inc-s-branch-office-in-florida/

[itshappening]

Rubio is Aspen institute controlled opposition, same as Trey Grayson. it won't be long until he lets down "conservatives" who have backed him, just like Scott Brown. His vote is for sale, Rand's isnt.

[sailingaway]

natch.

[sailingaway]

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/05/01/crist_grabs_lead_in_early_poll.html?utm_source=fee dburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+PoliticalWire+(Political+Wire)

" May 01, 2010


Crist Grabs Lead in Early Poll
A new McLaughlin & Associates poll in Florida shows Gov. Charlie Crist (I) leading the U.S. Senate race with 33%, followed by Marco Rubio (R) at 29% and Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) at 15%.

Interestingly, the poll shows Crist taking more votes from Meek than Rubio. Crist actually does better with Democrats than Meek, with 41% of them saying they would vote for him compared to 31% for Meek.

Read more: http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/05/01/crist_grabs_lead_in_early_poll.html?utm_source=fee dburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PoliticalWire+%28Political+Wi re%29#ixzz0moYTWUU2 "

Crist draws from Democrats? SHOCKED I say!

[TCE]

There is still a libertarian wing of the Florida GOP down there, they will need to get their constituents out to vote for him in the primary. Otherwise, I too would stay away from Florida, since it has turned into a state up for grabs. Iowa and NEW HAMPSHIRE are the big ones. Nevada should be somewhat easy, just make sure people get out to vote again, and then we have 1 out of 50. Hopefully Debra Medina can get people excited to vote for Dr. Paul in Texas.

[Cowlesy]

Wow.

If Crist beats Rubio in the general......wow. That will be a huge defeat for the Republican Establishment.

[Liberty Stud]

Rubio is Aspen institute controlled opposition, same as Trey Grayson. it won't be long until he lets down "conservatives" who have backed him, just like Scott Brown. His vote is for sale, Rand's isnt.

^This^

[driege]

Rubio is Aspen institute controlled opposition, same as Trey Grayson. it won't be long until he lets down "conservatives" who have backed him, just like Scott Brown. His vote is for sale, Rand's isnt.

Can someone give me the dirt on the Aspen Institute? The wikipedia page made it sound pretty innocuous. Based on everything I've seen from Rubio, I kind of like him relative to most politicians. He's no Ron Paul, but he strikes me as more of Jim DeMint than a Mitch McConnell. Why does the Aspen Institute automatically taint him?

[driege]

Can someone give me the dirt on the Aspen Institute? The wikipedia page made it sound pretty innocuous. Based on everything I've seen from Rubio, I kind of like him relative to most politicians. He's no Ron Paul, but he strikes me as more of Jim DeMint than a Mitch McConnell. Why does the Aspen Institute automatically taint him?

Bump. I think this got lost with the site being down.

[speciallyblend]

Rand:) Florida where the politicians and the mosquito's suck blood. just move all the neo-cons to florida and build a fence:)

[Epic]

If Rand wins and Rubio loses...

Rand would be the NEXT BIG THING

[sofia]

Can someone give me the dirt on the Aspen Institute? The wikipedia page made it sound pretty innocuous. Based on everything I've seen from Rubio, I kind of like him relative to most politicians. He's no Ron Paul, but he strikes me as more of Jim DeMint than a Mitch McConnell. Why does the Aspen Institute automatically taint him?

dirt on Aspen
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.aim.org/media-monitor/something-you-wont-see-on-cnn/

Something You Won’t See on CNN

Media Monitor | By Cliff Kincaid | April 7, 2006

Do you think Senator John McCain will try to inhibit Aspen influence operations as part of his lobbying reform initiative? Not likely.

An AP story carried on the CBS news website noted that Dick Clark, "a former senator from Iowa who established the Aspen Institute program for Congress," had testified against "a total ban on privately funded travel" for members of Congress. The story failed to note that the Aspen Institute is the number one sponsor of privately funded travel for members of Congress, having spent $3.4 million on Congress from 2000-2005. Aspen is one vehicle whereby left-wing billionaires like George Soros work to influence politicians on Capitol Hill by bringing them to luxurious places, hotels and resorts, and listening to mostly liberal and left-wing speakers.

Aspen is headed by Walter Isaacson, the former Chairman and CEO of CNN and the Managing Editor of Time Magazine. Aspen participates in something called the Ethical Globalization Initiative (EGI), headed by former U.N. official Mary Robinson, who calls the International Criminal Court, which could prosecute and imprison U.S. citizens, a "great legal enterprise."

Isaacson serves on the EGI board, along with global tax supporter Jeffrey Sachs, an adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The AP story did note that Aspen "arranges seminars both inside the country and around the world where members of Congress are required to attend conferences that last six hours a day over four days. It does not pay for recreational activities." But you don't have to pay for the weather. Some of the locations for Aspen congressional seminars include Naples, Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and the Grand Cayman Island in the British West Indies.

Clark testified that his "Congressional program," designed to expose members of congress to academic "expertise" on "complex" issues, is funded by "established independent foundations such as Ford, MacArthur, Carnegie, and Kellog." He neglected to mention the Open Society Institute of George Soros, listed in Aspen's 2004 annual report as a major foundation supporter.
But that's not the only Soros connection. Others include:

Aspen's director of communications is Jim Spiegelman, a former "special assistant" to Soros.

Soros has been a featured speaker at the Aspen Summer Benefit dinner at the Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colorado. The Hotel Jerome is Aspen's "crown jewel." Rooms go for anywhere from $636 -$1390 a night.

Arjun Gupta, a member of the Aspen board of overseers, serves as a Vice President at The Chatterjee Group, an investment advisor to Soros and his Soros Fund Management group.

In 2004, Aspen hosted "America's Role in the Fight Against Global Poverty," a seminar featuring Al Gore and George Soros.

Do you think Senator John McCain will try to inhibit Aspen influence operations as part of his lobbying reform initiative? Not likely. McCain was a speaker at an Aspen event, where he and Senator Joe Lieberman said "they would have voted to approve China's attempted purchase of Unocal, a midsized American oil company, and if the question came up, they would back the sale of General Motors to a Chinese company."

This seems like a big story, especially in light of what happened with the UAE/Ports deal.

But it is doubtful that we'll see any stories on this from CNN, which Isaacson used to run. CNN host Paula Zahn hosted Aspen's 2002 Summer Benefit dinner at the Hotel Jerome.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of the AIM Report and can be reached at cliff.kincaid@aim.org

[Odin]

i want rubio to win. i probably wouldnt vote for him, but the last thing i want is charlie crist.