Crist Is Toast: 'Goodbye, Charlie'

The American Spectator's Florida-based correspondent Larry Thornberry:

TAMPA – "Moderate" Florida governor Charlie Crist's Senate campaign is circling the drain. And it's mostly his own fault.
Crist, a formerly conservative politician who "grew in office" after becoming governor in 2007, went through a 50-point lead over conservative former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio faster than Sherman went through Georgia. Polls released this week by Rasmussen and the Florida Chamber of Commerce both show Rubio with an 18-point lead over Crist in a race for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate seat Mel Martinez resigned from last summer. . . .
The sounds you hear of many hands clapping are those of grassroots Florida Republicans pleased at the prospect of Crist's long but undistinguished political career coming to an end. Not to mention the prospect of a young, energetic, intelligent conservative representing Florida in the U.S. Senate instead of the Arlen Specter wannabe Crist has become. . . .

Read the whole thing.

(Cross-posted at Right Wing News.)

J.D. Hayworth vs. John McCain

Thanks to Barbara Espinosa at American Freedom for highlighting this issue-by-issue comparison:

TAXES
John McCain -- Opposed the Bush tax cuts. Voted against repealing the Death Tax. The Club for Growth says McCain’s overall record on taxes “is profoundly disturbing and anti-growth.”
J.D. Hayworth -- Helped to author the Bush tax cuts and supports repealing the Death Tax. JD has a higher lifetime rating from Citizens Against Government Waste than John McCain does.

BAILOUTS
John McCain -- Voted FOR the big bank bailouts and proposed an additional $300 Billion bailout of all bad debts, making the taxpayers responsible for the bad decisions of others.
J.D. Hayworth -- Opposed the big bank bailouts, opposed the Obama plan, and opposed the McCain plan to leave taxpayers holding the bag for the nation’s bad loans.

AMNESTY
John McCain -- Wrote the bill granting amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. McCain’s bill was estimated to cost the taxpayers more than $2.6 Trillion.
J.D. Hayworth -- Helped lead the fight against the McCain-Kennedy amnesty bill. JD is a national leader in the fight to secure our borders and protect our nation.

MARRIAGE
John McCain -- Opposed the Federal Marriage Amendment that would have protected and preserved marriage as between one man and one woman.
J.D. Hayworth -- Marriage Supported the Federal Amendment and believes it is critical that marriage be protected from those who would redefine it.

CAP AND TRADE
John McCain -- Co-authored the McCain-Lieberman Cap and Trade bill.
J.D. Hayworth -- Cap and Trade Opposes all Cap and Trade legislation and rejects phony climate change data.

FREE SPEECH
John McCain -- Authored the McCain-Feingold legislation that violated the First Amendment rights of every American and silenced conservative groups like Right to Life and the NRA.
J.D. Hayworth -- Opposed McCain-Feingold and believes that a free and vigorous debate is always in the best interests of our state and our nation.

TERRORISM
John McCain -- Opposes enhanced interrogation techniques, supports closing Guantanamo Bay, and supports treating terrorists like criminal defendants instead of enemy combatants.
J.D. Hayworth -- Supports our military and its use of enhanced interrogation techniques. Believes that Guantanamo Bay should remain open and that terrorists should be treated as such.

ERIC HOLDER
John McCain -- Voted to confirm this far-left activist.
J.D. Hayworth -- Opposed the confirmation of Eric Holder as Attorney General of the United States.

MORE READING:

• Michelle Malkin: "Attention, GOP: John McCain Is the Problem"
• Robert Costa, National Review: The Double Talk Express
• Politico: John McCain "desperation" smear of Hayworth
• American Spectator: John McCain Offers to Campaign for Charlie Crist

J.D. HAYWORTH for U.S. SENATE

So, Rubio can't win huh?

I am sure y'all recall what the NRSC told us. Marco Rubio was a good guy, but it was not his time. They told us to just shut up and be good Republicans. Support Charlie Crist, he may not be the most Conservative candidate, but, it was either him,or a Democrat.
We, here at NORC told the NRSC to go fly a kite, we believed that a more Conservative candidate COULD get elected to the US Senate. Well, gues what, the polls say we are right The Crist campaign is falling apart and Rubio is rocking. That is great news, but listen to this bit of news. If you really want to know what an impact Rubio is having,and how fearful of him the Left is, consider that he is the victim of smear tactics from clowns like Donny Deutsch

JOY BEHAR: Let's talk about the Republican Party. They're becoming- You're a brander. You know about that. They are the party of no. And that's not a good thing.

DONNY DEUTSCH: It's not a good thing. But what they figured out, finally, unfortunately, in the last six weeks, if you think about Brown winning, if you think about in Virginia where they won, if you think about this guy Rubio they're pushing in Florida, they're understanding that just this vitriolic, "We hate Obama. The world is bad," the Sarah Palins of the world, the Dick Cheneys of the world, the Rush Limbaughs, is unelectable. Let's put forward a fiscal conservative, socially- what appears to be socially moderate in terms of whatnot [sic], that's the electable candidate. So they're getting it. There's a difference between-

BEHAR: Who is that person?

DEUTSCH: It's basically it's a Scott Brown. And once again. It's amazing. They're talking about presidential timber. He's never done anything in his whole life. That's the whole thing. It's the blank piece of paper people can assign things to. One of the reasons, interestingly enough, I think we are a society of no right now. One of the reasons Obama got elected, because he was a blank page. You could assign hope to him.

BEHAR: That's true.

DEUTSCH: We're such a media frenzy, 24/7 world that almost anybody that's been around too long, there's so much "no" attached to it, that you almost need that blank piece of paper. That's the new model. Like, you know, this coconut Rubio down in Florida. You know-

BEHAR: What's his name? I don't know him. Rubio?

DEUTSCH: Marco Rubio. He's running against Charlie Crist, who I think has done a great job. And he is the new great, you now, hope down there.

BEHAR: So, basically, these people, the tea partiers are basically angry with the right and the left for the same reason, that there's fiscal irresponsibility?

DEUTSCH: No, they're angry- they're basically- their argument is- and I think there's a lot of racism underneath it- is- "He, they, are taking your civil liberties away. They're stomping on the Constitution. They're telling us how many bullets we can have in our guns."

Folks, you KNOW you are a threat when the Left goes berserk on you! Anyone they fear will win elections they attack in the most antagonistic ways. Keep it up Marco Rubio!

It's On!*

Like Donkey Kong.

Crist and Rubio have both agreed to appear on Fox News Sunday on March 28th. The Crist campaign has agreed to a Meet the Press appearance as well, originally schedule for March 7th, but Rubio will only agree to a Meet appearance if it's televised AFTER Fox.

Please don't adjust your TV Settings. Charlie Crist is supposed to be an odd shade of orange.

*Shamelessly lifted from Hot Air's headlines.

VIDEO-Marco Rubio on what makes America great

Via Babalu Blog

Despite Rubio Cheering For The Saints, It's Easy To See Why He's Overtaking Crist In The Polls

Via Ed at Hot Air.

Charlie Crist is toast

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air asks if Governor Crist even wants to be Senator.

Sometimes one has to wonder whether Charlie Crist really wants to win his primary battle against Marco Rubio for the Republican nomination to contest Florida’s open Senate seat. When Rubio endorsed the conservative and mainstream national GOP position that the US Census should count only legal residents and citizens, Crist decided to differentiate himself by supporting the count of illegal immigrants — as a means to get more pork from Washington:

Well, Governor Crist is definitely not getting the point is he? Americans, more specifically Floridians in this case DO NOT want more pork, they are sick of pork, and high taxes, and political whores like Charlie Crist who will sell out their state for more government pork.

Crist once seemed a shoe in, and Rubio a long shot. The NRSC certainly thought so when they prematurely endorsed Crist as the only Republican that could win.

Times change don't they? Sorry Charlie, but Marco Rubio is what Republicans want as a Senator.

Calling Charlie Crist "dishonest" is a nice way to say that is a two faced, despicable liar

Charlie Crist has put out a commercial that quotes Marco Rubio, who is kicking Crist's ass in the Florida Republican primary race for the U.S. Senate:

“…I am in favor of giving the Department of Environmental Protection a mandate that they go out and design a cap and trade, or a carbon tax program…”

Note the "..." that appear at the beginning and ending of Rubio's "quote". Choo choo Charlie is hoping that Florida voters won't find out what Rubio said on either end of that quote because if they do, it will show Crist's desperation and well as the cesspool that he is willing to bath in. Fortunately, Henry Lois Gomez at Babalu has the full transcript that Crist cherrypicked from in an attempt to mislead, no, lie to the people of Florida. Read Gomez's post and decide for yourself. A little context goes a long way.

Cross posted at Carol's Closet

What is it like to be Charlie Crist? Or any other RINO?

Kind of like this I would surmise.

That giant sucking sound you hear is.........

Florida governor Charlie Crist's Senate hopes going down the drain!

Former state House Speaker Marco Rubio has now jumped to a 12-point lead over Governor Charlie Crist in Florida’s Republican Primary race for the U.S. Senate.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely GOP Primary voters in the state finds Rubio leading Crist 49% to 37%. Three percent (3%) prefer another candidate, and 11% are undecided.

The new numbers mark a stunning turnaround. Crist was the strong favorite when he first announced for the Senate seat, and Rubio was viewed as a long-shot challenger.

But Crist’s support fell from 53% in August to 49% in October. By December, the two men were tied at 43% apiece.

Rubio leads Crist by 17 points among men and by seven among women. He also carries 52% of the conservative GOP vote, while moderates prefer Crist

Well now, I thought ther NRSC said it was not Rubio's time? How is that surrenfder and settle for less strategy working out?

Marco Rubio Leads Crist and Announces Stimulus Money Bomb!

In exciting polling news today, word comes from Rasmussen that Marco Rubio leads Charlie Crist in the Florida Republican primary 49-37!

Charlie Crist has tanked faster than a rock in a pond and now Rubio moves ahead for the first time. Will Crist stay in the race? Erick Erickson thinks not.

Even better, Rubio has announced his Stimulus Money Bomb fund raising drive. It's common knowledge by now that Crist spoke out in support of Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus plan last year. As the one-year anniversary of the stimulus approaches, Rubio is asking that over the next ten days you donate some configuration of that figure, for example, $7.87, or $78.70, or even better, $787.00! His goal is to raise $1,000 for every $1 billion that was wasted through the stimulus.

You can donate to Marco here.



Cross posted at And So it Goes in Shreveport