Wharton Journal

When he announced his bid for the Senate seat being vacated by former Housing and Urban Development chief Mel Martinez, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist looked like a shoe-in. The governor had soaring approval ratings, received the endorsement of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), and was almost guaranteed to raise enough money to crush any opposition. Unfortunately for Crist, the day of his Senate announcement appears to have been the peak of his now listless campaign, thanks in large part to a number of unforced errors and the underdog efforts of fellow candidate Marco Rubio, the former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.

The son of impoverished Cuban immigrants who escaped to the United States in the 1950’s, Rubio began his political career as a representative in the Florida legislature. He rose quickly through the ranks and after only eight years became the speaker of the Florida House. Rubio was the first Cuban-America speaker in the state’s history, and at the age of 35, he was also its youngest. Due to his obvious eloquence and immense popularity within the conservative movement, Rubio has been described by many political observers as the G.O.P.’s answer to Barack Obama.

Despite his impressive legislative record and his unique biography, the former speaker was given long odds versus the incumbent governor. One reason is fundraising. To date, Crist has raised nearly $7 million, while Rubio has raised only $1.6 million. Another is pure name recognition. Although Rubio polls remarkably well among those who have heard of him (he beats Crist among voters who have heard enough about each candidate), most Florida voters tell pollsters they do not know enough about him to form an opinion. This is where the good news for Crist ends.

Since the campaign began in earnest last May, Crist has utterly failed to ignite the conservative base in Florida. "In what has become a familiar ritual at gatherings of Republican activists across Florida, former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio trounced Gov. Charlie Crist in a straw poll of GOP Senate candidates [on October 14]," wrote the Palm Beach Post. "[Rubio] is a hero with the party’s conservative activist base."

Crist did not do himself any favors with the base when he became the only Republican governor in the country to support President Barack Obama’s stimulus last February, an act memorialized by a nationally televised hug between Crist and the president at a campaign-style rally for the legislation. To make matters worse, the governor incredulously claimed last week that he had never supported the stimulus.

Following Crist’s unforced stimulus snafu, the Club for Growth, a national political powerhouse known for collecting the scalps of politicians who treat the public purse as if it were their own, weighed into the debate with an ad buy highlighting Crist’s statement at the February stimulus rally that "it’s important that we pass the stimulus package." A February 3, 2009, letter to the president expressing support for the $800 billion bill signed by one Charlie Crist did not help to burnish the governor’s newfound conservative credentials.

And in case the Crist campaign needed extra fuel for the grassroots wildfire currently torching his candidacy, the governor’s top political consultant was recently outed as the brains behind an anti-Rubio hate site that was widely condemned by legal and political experts alike. But wait, there’s more! When asked last month whether he planned to meet with the president during his visit to Jacksonville, Crist twice told reporters that he knew nothing about the president’s trip. Unfortunately for Crist, yet again, his claims appear to be demonstrably false.

"E-mails obtained by a Florida newspaper show Gov. Charlie Crist's aides knew about President Barack Obama's visit to Florida in October, though the governor previously told reporters that he was unaware of the trip," the Associated Press reported. "According to the St. Petersburg Times, the White House provided an itinerary and invitation in advance of Obama's Oct. 26 visit to Jacksonville Naval Air Station. Crist's executive assistant responded to the e-mail, saying the governor would be unable to attend." Whoops. Oh, and I almost forgot: the governor’s long-time communications director just resigned.

Although he still finds himself trailing in the polls, Marco Rubio must surely be smiling. An October Rasmussen poll found that in only three months, he had knocked eight points off Crist’s once insurmountable lead. If Rubio can raise enough money to increase his name recognition statewide, and if Crist continues to destroy his credibility with outlandish claims about his record, Senator Marco Rubio may soon be a household name.

Article Tools