Marco Rubio Comes Out Swinging at Old Rival Charlie Crist

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., took aim at an old foe on Tuesday: former Gov. Charlie Crist.

Rubio and Crist clashed in the 2010 U.S. Senate contest. Despite being an underdog at the start, Rubio caught the then-governor in the Republican primary leaving Crist to bolt the GOP to run with no party affiliation. In the 2010 general election, Rubio crushed Crist who placed a distant second.

Crist joined the Democrats at the end of 2012 and is now his new partys front-runner to challenge Gov. Rick Scott in November. Rubio went to bat for Scott on Tuesday, with the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) sending a fundraising email from the senator.

Five years ago, Charlie Crist announced that he was running for the U.S. Senate. At the time, I was 20-to-30 points down in the polls, Rubio wrote. No one thought I had a chance. But with your support, things changed, and Floridians were exposed to the phony that is Charlie Crist. Today, Im asking you to help the Republican Party of Florida re-defeat Charlie Crist.

Five years ago, Crist sold himself as a conservative Republican, but he sure didnt act like one, Rubio continued. As governor, he raised taxes by $2.2 billion, increased state debt by $5.2 billion, and oversaw an economy that lost 832,000 jobs. Now, Charlie Crist has switched from Republican to Democrat, with a pit stop as an independent. Hes running out of parties.

Rubio called on Republicans to educate the public on the real Charlie Crist, the man who has been a member of every major party and crippled our state as governor before trying to link his old foe to President Barack Obama and his health-care law.

Crist supports Obamacare, causing Floridians to lose their doctors and their insurance plans, Rubio wrote. He supports President Obamas economic policies and wont rule out raising taxes again as governor.

Rubio also hit Crist for his recent shift in positions on the Cuban embargo. While Crist had been a supporter of it, he now is calling for an end to it.

Charlie Crist has called for lifting the Cuban embargo, saying that Floridas Cuban community needs to be stood up to, even while human rights abuses grow worse by the day for people under the Castro regime and while they export their brutal brand of repression to Venezuela, as well, Rubio wrote. I was elected as your senator because the voters responded to my call for low taxes, more freedom, and a government that lives within its means.

Rubio ended with a last shot at Charlie Crists liberal agenda.