Can We Call Marco Rubio A Fundraising Star Now?

Chalk this up as one more reason for the NRSC to stay out of the primary. It seems like Marco Rubio is starting to self finance just fine all his own.

[VA]Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has now become a national leader for conservative causes--and you don't have to take just our word for it.

Cuccinelli is a "nationwide leader in fighting the unconstitutional excesses of the federal government." That's according to Marco Rubio, a candidate in the GOP primary for senator in Florida and himself a conservative favorite, in a statement accepting Cuccinelli's endorsement of his candidacy this weekend.

Cuccinelli has joined a variety of Republicans taking sides in the Florida primary battle between Rubio and Gov. Charlie Crist. Last week, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) also chose the more conservative Rubio over Crist.

If I recall, one of the big reasons why the NRSC asked Crist to run was because Crist could self-finance an election at the time. That will be an issue when he goes with an independent bid.

As of March 31, Crist was sitting on a healthy $7.6 million in his federal campaign account, but he’s going to need every penny — and more — in a race where a statewide media buy likely will cost well more than $1 million per week this fall.

Besides advertising, Crist will have to build a get-out-the-vote operation and gather voter information to microtarget his voters. One operative who has worked on multiple high-profile Independent campaigns said both of those important components — which make up a major part of what party organizations provide — can be bought on the open market, for a price.

But unlike New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), who spent $102 million of his vast fortune to win re-election last fall, Crist can’t self-fund his bid.
[. . .]
Crist won’t be legally obligated to return the money that he’s raised and could try weathering the storm to preserve precious cash. But that would create its own issues with news stories about donors saying Crist took their money under false pretenses. If nothing else, it will be an awkward story for Crist to deal with as he tries to relaunch and rebrand himself.

Exit Question: What state should Crist retire quietly to?

Cross posted here At The Point Of A Gun.

There's an Upset Brewing in Florida

Cross posted at Carol's Closet

From the September 13th addition of the St. Petersburg Times:

"It's rare that I talk to anyone that's got a good thing to say about the governor right now. It's hard to find a real Charlie Crist ally," said former state Republican chairman Tom Slade. "Charlie Crist is a marvelous politician, but rarely do you use the word statesman with Charlie Crist. That's his vulnerability, getting branded as another self-centered politician, and he doesn't have many more opportunities to muff up before that happens." ...

His state is losing population for the first time in 60 years. Unemployment and foreclosures are soaring. Taxes haven't dropped like a rock as he promised, and Florida remains one hurricane away from bankruptcy. County Republican parties are openly revolting against Crist, while a charismatic young rival, Marco Rubio, is being hailed on the cover of William F. Buckley's National Review magazine as the future of the GOP. ...

The polls don't show it yet, but warning signs abound for Crist. Local Republican executive committees and clubs in every corner of the state are holding symbolic "straw poll" votes where Rubio doesn't just beat Crist, but consistently trounces him 8- or 9-to-1.

Three things have brought the Florida Republican Senate race to this point.First, Charlie Crist, generally considered a (very) liberal Republican, angered the base by embracing President Obama and the president’s highly unpopular Stimulus Bill. Bad has gone to worse for the governor as unemployment has risen in the state and Crist broke his promise not raise taxes on already cash strapped Floridians.

Second, Marco Rubio showed up on the scene as Crist’s polar opposite Rubio, the former Speaker of the Florida House is a staunch conservative who fires up the base at every event he attends. In addition to his conservative credentials, he is young, photogenic and unbelievably well spoken. He connects with “the people” because he intuitively knows how to talk to people without talking down to them-a refreshing quality in a politician.

Third, in a huge miscalculation, the NRSC came out in favor of Crist right out of the gate. Sadly, many in the Republican party leadership do not seem to understand how unhappy the base is with them. By backing a candidate prior to the primary, the NRSC cemented the feeling among the base that the ‘street level’ Republican doesn’t count.

This is being played as an ‘upset in the making’ but as a member of the base, I don’t know anybody who is upset by the notion of ‘Senator Rubio.’

Each time a person stands up for an ideal…

One of the reasons this site was created was to make The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which seems to be in the business of selling out the GOP, see the light and failing that, to make them feel the heat of conservatives who are incensed over its betrayal of the legacy left by its greatest mentor, Ronald Reagan.

Much has been written about the “demise” of the GOP in light of its recent losses to the liberal left. Many say the GOP is dead or dying. Perhaps the party is dying. History will write its obituary if that is true, but conservatism is alive and well in this country.

Francis Marion, a Revolutionary War commander known as the “Swamp Fox”, is said to have asked, “Why should I trade one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away? An elected legislature can trample a man's rights as easily as a king can.”

Robert Stacy McCain and Erik Erickson are asking like-minded conservatives to join the fight against The National Republican Senatorial Committee because of its insistence on blindly supporting those candidates it deems “electable” without any thought to what Republican voters want. By betraying its mission, the NRSC becomes the enemy of liberty.

I do not reside in the state of Florida, but many of my fellow countrymen do. As you have surmised by now, this blog was birthed by the outrage over the Republican Party of Florida working to shut out Marco Rubio from any party support. It's based on "Rule 11" of the GOP, which would allow the national party to focus its resources on a single candidate -- in this case Charlie Crist -- and shut out Marco Rubio.

Pinellas State Committeeman Tony DiMatteo said, "To try to impose Rule 11 on a former Speaker of the House of Representatives—a Hispanic American, at a time when we're trying to reach out to Hispanics and African-Americans and diversify—is beyond outrageous.”

The Republican National Committee has picked up the habit of backing losers and forcing the rest of us to fund those choices. It’s time to put the brakes on.

Florida’s Republican Senate primary has become a contest between the Party’s base and its national leadership. Since the start of the Obama administration, the national party has attempted to capture the energy of the base by endorsing anti-spending Tea Parties, opposing the Democratic agenda, and blaming the losses of 2006 and 2008 on a move away from fiscal conservatism. At the same time, it has courted more moderate candidates like Florida’s Crist, California’s former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, and former Gov. Tom Ridge (R-PA). Until he became a Democrat earlier this month, the National Republican Senatorial Committee had supported Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) over conservative foot soldier Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania’s Senate race. This disconnect between message and recruitment has angered conservative activitists and is setting up heated primaries that the party would have preferred to avoid.

"Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, these ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
--Robert Kennedy

Please watch the video here of Marco Rubio's farewell speech to the Florida House of Representatives: