Florida US Senate Primary Getting "Hairy"
The Republican contest for US Senate in Florida is turning into one dirty (er, hairy) war. With a little more than 5 months left until the primary, the attacks are already flying between the Crist and Rubio camps on a daily basis. Last night on Greta Van Susteren’s show, Charlie Crist accused Marco Rubio of being a back waxer and implied that his own $11 haircut makes him a fiscal conservative. No doubt about it, Charlie Crist has been caught off guard by Rubio’s early rise to front-runner status and is looking a little desperate. Rubio has taken full advantage of Crist’s moderate leadership, most notably his embrace (literally) of Obama’s stimulus bill. Crist had a tough week. His final State of the State address received only a lukewarm response by Republican legislators, often getting the most applause and praise from the Democrats. This weekend the NY Times called Crist’s plan to save the Everglades “on track to rescue the fortunes of United States Sugar” and Jeb Bush said “there has been a replacement of science based environmental policy for photo-op environmental policy.” Finally, just before his odd charges on Van Susteren’s show, Senator John Cornyn, head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee who last summer made a controversial decision to endorse Crist in the primary, told reporters that Crist “seemed like the ideal candidate” because of his fundraising abilities, but “This had nothing to do with Marco Rubio, whom I subsequently met and have a lot of respect for.” On the other hand, Rubio has risen to the top faster than anticipated and it’s not yet clear if he’s ready to handle the scrutiny that comes with front runner status. Regardless of how the private American Express bills from the Republican Party of Florida were leaked, he was unprepared, at one point claiming “There was no formal process provided by the party regarding personal charges.” One would think in his position, a formal process wouldn’t be necessary to differentiate personal versus business charges. It also revealed he double billed taxpayers and the Republican Party for not one, but eight plane tickets during his tenure as Speaker of the House. He is repaying those costs but it makes you wonder what if those documents had not been released and gives voters the uneasy sense that he’s just like all the rest. The polls don’t look good for Crist but don’t underestimate him. He is a fighter and a veteran campaigner. This race is certain to tighten up once again. One thing is for sure, this will all make for some interesting political mail and tv in the coming months! My advice to all candidates and politicians alike is this. If you govern and lead from a base of solid values and policies, even when it’s not popular or politically expedient, you will never have a problem defending your decisions later. Know who you are before trying to sell it to someone else.
