Rubio leads Crist by 14 point margin!
During this exciting primary week, another tea party victory comes in Florida, where the once thought "unelectable" Marco Rubio opened up a decisive lead against his main challenger, Republican-turned-Independent Charlie Crist, in the race for a Florida senate seat. A Reuters poll found that Rubio leads Crist by 40% to 26% among likely voters. The democratic challenger, Kendrick Meek, comes in at 21%.
Six weeks before November 2 congressional elections, Rubio leads state Governor Charlie Crist, an independent, by 40 percent to 26 percent among likely voters, the poll found. Democrat Kendrick Meek trails at 21 percent....
Tea Party-backed candidates have ousted Republican establishment politicians in Nevada, Colorado, Kentucky and Connecticut. Crist fled the Republican Party earlier this year to run as an independent when it seemed clear he would lose to the conservative Rubio in the state's primary vote...
With the general election nearing, Rubio is softening some of his rhetoric, taking on a more moderate tone. According to Reuters:
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, is softening his rhetoric in an apparent attempt to appeal to moderates before the November vote.
"The language he is using is a little more mainstream Republican," said Ipsos pollster Julia Clark.
The poll numbers show a big swing since mid-August, when an Ipsos Public Affairs poll showed Crist leading Rubio by 33 percent to 29 percent if Meek were the Democratic candidate.
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Re: Rubio leads Crist by 14 point margin!
Emily, I haven't been following this closely. I'm curious--what is "mainstream Republican" language these days? And what's "extremist Republican" language?
Jul '10
Re: Rubio leads Crist by 14 point margin!
Emily Esfahani Smith:
With the general election nearing, Rubio is softening some of his rhetoric, taking on a more moderate tone. According to Reuters:
Politics 101. Get your base behind you then 'soften the rhetoric' for the general.
In other news, Ursidae egest in the woodland.
Re: Rubio leads Crist by 14 point margin!
Claire, I think that early in his campaign, Rubio played more into the anti-Washington energies of the tea partiers. At one rally last year, he said “My parents lost their country to a government [Cuba]!...“I will not lose mine to a government!” That's obviously a fair and valid statement, but I think he's cooling on his anti-government and even anti-Obama rhetoric.
This past August, he told the NYTimes, “The solution isn’t just to paralyze government" (compare this to the government shutdown called for a few weeks later by a GOP congresswoman). In that NYTimes interview, Rubio even had some nice words about Obama.
This Daily Caller piece explains how Rubio's efforts to distance himself from the tea partiers is leaving a bitter taste in the tea partiers' mouths.
Edited on Sep 16, 2010 at 6:28amRe: Rubio leads Crist by 14 point margin!
Marco should win. He just needs Meek to get up to speed among base Democrats. Other issue is Crist still has a knot of GOP support in the Tampa-St.Pete area, his old base. If Marco can get more of that vote off Crist and get the panhandle -- where he is not really known -- lined up right it should be a solid win.
And no -- angry members 1 through 140 -- I was not an early Crist supporter. Marco is a friend and I was one of his earliest donors. Gave him a lot of free advice in the beginning.
May '10
Re: Rubio leads Crist by 14 point margin!
I really like what I've been reading about Rubio in NR. In fact, I became such a fan early on that I was telling my cousin who lives in Florida all about him. I don't care if he has a purported excess hair issue! Lots of men do. It's called testosterone and genetics, duh! Rubio is pretty darn cool! His record in the Florida legislature speaks volumes!
And totally off topic, but am I the only who keeps confusing Gov. Crist with that actor on Mad Men?
Edited on Sep 17, 2010 at 9:29pmMay '10
Re: Rubio leads Crist by 14 point margin!
Emily Esfahani Smith: ...This Daily Caller piece explains how Rubio's efforts to distance himself from the tea partiers is leaving a bitter taste in the tea partiers' mouths.
Edited on Sep 16 at 06:28 am
Sep 16 at 6:26am
Not sure how this jives with the actual situation. Rubio is appearing at a Tea Party event tomorrow in St. Augustine-- http://wokv.com/localnews/2010/09/local-tea-party-rally-brings-b.html. Or maybe he's making amends?