The NRSC is endorsing Crist over Rubio in Florida. Traditionally, they don't take sides in a non-incumbent primary. Right Wing News wants Cornyn to resign and Stacy McCain fumes.
Crist is broadly popular in Florida and it's a numbers game in the Senate now given where the balance stands. Republicans need to win 4 - 5 seats to be relevant, so I can understand their logic. A loss would be disastrous for them. Of course, if they lose with Crist, it will be a catastrophe. And in the meantime, it'll be an interesting primary to watch.
Even as Gov. Charlie Crist comes under fire from Florida conservatives, he will be getting some important political backing today as he announces that he’s running for the Senate in Florida.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee will be endorsing Crist, according to a senior Hill operative, marking the first time it has taken sides (for a non-incumbent) in a competitive GOP primary this election cycle.
NRSC chairman John Cornyn made the endorsement official this morning, casting Crist as the most electable candidate to hold the seat for the GOP.
Crist is a lose-lose situation for the GOP. Even if he takes the seat, there is no way the GOP can claim any credibility on fiscal responsibility after pushing for a pro-stimulus candidate who was labeled by Obama as his "favorite Republican."
This is a weak move motivated out of fear and short-term electioneering, nothing more. And it's a move that (like the NRSC's "anybody but a conservative like Toomey" strategy in PA) which will further undermine the GOP's credibility and long term prospects.
Posted by: thirteen28 | Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 01:33 PM
Agree - pushing Crist when the GOP party will hopefully running against the massive big government O and Dems will hurt the message. And it has been noted elsewhere that Crist would probably have had an easy race to be reelected Governor - his move now sets off a chain reaction of GOP races that will drain GOP resources and create inter-party tensions in FL.
Posted by: AWW | Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 02:15 PM
Nice post - it will be interesting to see what happens!
COMMON CENTS
http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com
Posted by: Steve | Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 02:18 PM
Holding the seat is imperative. Ginsburg is the next to resign - probably next year, so keeping the seat even modestly conservative is better than handing it over to Obama.
Conservatives should see a wave of support in 2010 - fueled by the inflation and continued unemployment that Obama has created. Even Obama won't be able to blame this on Bush. There could very well be a wave of support for conservatives if we can make our case. People in the unemployment line will at least be willing to listen.
(for a list of other things conservatives can take heart in, you can hit: http://firstconservative.com/blog/top-ten/conservative-resurgence )
Posted by: MAS1916 | Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 03:07 PM
"Let's see... we've been abandoned by our base, so let's punch them in the face a few times and see what happens."
Am I the only one here that remembers that it was Crist's well-timed endorsement that put McCain over the top in the Primaries? And people still want this douchebag? Watching the Republican leadership work is like a watching a bunch of brain-damaged monkeys push checkers around on a board, not knowing what they're doing or what's going on while the Progressive grandmasters play chess on the next table. It's just sad.
Posted by: Evil Red Scandi | Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 04:20 PM
The Republican Party is just intent on self-destruction. Rubio is just what we need in national politics and the R leadership chooses another RINO who will spend the primary season undermining him. Cornyn needs to resign and take Steele with him.
Posted by: Jaye | Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 04:26 PM
Wouldn\'t Crist be the first openly gay man in the Senate?
Posted by: Dd | Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 05:08 PM
"-- The NRSC is endorsing Crist over Rubio in Florida. Traditionally, they don't take sides in a non-incumbent primary. Right Wing News wants Cornyn to resign and Stacy McCain fumes. --"
Circular firing squad at the ready! Aim! Fire!
Posted by: IslamoLlama | Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 06:53 PM
Unfortunately Islamo is right. And the annoying thing about this is that it appears nobody was talking to each other - if Rubio knew Crist was going to go for the Senate seat would he have gone for the Governorship instead? So now the GOP has 2 good candidates for the Senate seat but nobody apparently for the governorship. Brilliant
Posted by: AWW | Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 08:14 PM
Crist will win in a landslide. The rats have 2 basically unknowns and not very attractive candidates. Rubio will run for Governor.
Posted by: nina | Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 09:01 PM
Nina - Rubio sounded pretty sure he was staying in the Senate race. Hopefully you are right and the GOP can avoid a mess in FL
Posted by: AWW | Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 11:27 PM
It's amusing to me that you guys still believe the 2008 election would have been closer with someone besides McCain. There's simply no evidence for this. But please, continue thinking your nonsense.
Posted by: LOL | Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 02:10 AM
LOL - 1) The shine has come off O in the first 100 days as people start to see what he is really like, not the MSM created fantasy. We argue that had we had a candidate who was willing to point out and run against O's positions/inexperience instead of trying to make nice with everyone and attack his own side the election would have been closer. McCain was by most accounts the most passive candidate for the past 20 years. 2) Even in late 2007 people were arguing that McCain was a wartime candidate and that if the issues shifted back to domestic/economy he would be a weak general candidate - that is exactly what happened. 3) Voters, mostly conservatives, were not happy with Bush and the DC politicians so running a longtime inside the Beltway type did not help. 4) McCain's whole personna - GOP maverick/MSM darling - was pulled away from him when the MSM (predictably) got into bed with the Dem candidate. I know you want numerical evidence to support the contention that McCain was a weak candidate - I believe there were numbers showing that a large number of conservative voting groups sat out the election. In sum there were obvious issues with McCain as the candidate in late 2007/early 2008 which is why he was running 4th or worst until the other candidate knocked each other off and cleared the way for him.
Posted by: AWW | Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 07:36 AM
AWW -Rubio is very smart. They are thinking of running McCalough for governor . He is awful and will lose big, I hope Rubio realizes that he can win if he runs for Gov.
Posted by: nina | Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 08:10 AM
Another RINO up and pirouetting for the crowd. Crist may be popular with the feckless party members on the Florida coasts but not so inland. He's also not popular with those in the party who pay attention to what he is saying. The way things are going Florida will be a Republican loss next election. Either way, the situation is looking more and more like Florida morphing into California then into Michigan.
Posted by: Philip McDaniel | Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 09:53 AM
What's wrong with Crist? At least he's electable. I mean do you want to give Obama a super majority in the Senate just to spite moderate Republicans. Isn't that why so many conservatives allegedly sat out the presidential election, because McCain was "the same" as Obama?! Wake up, a moderate Republican is better than a Democrate.
Posted by: anon | Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 10:10 AM
"Wake up, a moderate Republican is better than a Democrate."
True, but if you believe Crist is a moderate Republican you are in for quite a surprise. Watch what happens in Florida over the next few months. Hopefully, the house will stop this Democrat nonsense.
"Crist's plan, which would require electric companies to produce 20 percent of their energy from alternative sources like wind and solar by 2020, passed the Florida Senate on Thursday by a vote of 37-1. But it has yet to get even a hearing in the House of Representatives.
Instead, House leaders tried to pass an energy bill this week that would open oil drilling up to three miles from Florida's coast.
They were rebuked by Crist and the Senate." http://www.heraldtribune.com/
Posted by: Philip McDaniel | Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 09:52 AM
And our birth certificates do not just "wear out"; I have real copies of my grandparents birth certificates that can be read just fine. I even have some older belonging to my great grandparents. This information doesn't "get lost" in the system; it's how they keep track of you. Besides, in the 1960s there was a huge effort to copy all that paper onto files called "microfiche"; you can find them at any local library if you want to know what they look like
Posted by: liseli kizlar | Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 12:17 PM