Beltway Buzz: George LeMieux on the Fence on Sending Obama Pick Elena Kagan to U.S. Supreme Court

While it appears increasingly likely that Solicitor General Elena Kagan, who was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Barack Obama, appears headed for confirmation, Beltway insiders are now speculating how many Republicans will back the nomination. One of the Republicans on the fence is U.S. Sen. George LeMieux from Florida. LeMieux is included on a list in an article by Susan Crabtree in The Hill on Friday and her take on the Florida Republican is worth quoting in full:

Sen. George LeMieux (R-Fla.): LeMieuxs vote is hard to predict. He has said little if anything about Kagan publicly and may be trying to distance himself from the centrist politics of his former boss, Gov. Charlie Crist, in an attempt to shore up his conservative bona fides for a rumored run against Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) in 2012.

Crabtree is spot on here. LeMieuxs vote may tell us a good deal about his future ambitions. There are other signs that LeMieux could be gearing up for 2012. For example, despite his long history with Crist, LeMieux has been a vocal backer of Crist's U.S. Senate opponent Marco Rubio.