With the Republican presidential candidates ready to debate on Tuesday night and the GOP hopefuls headed to the Republican Party of Florida’s (RPOF) Sunshine Summit later in the week, the war of the words is heating up between former allies former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
Bush went after Rubio in the third debate held last month but most observers said the former governor failed in his attack attempt. On Monday, the New York Times reported that Mike Murphy, a longtime Republican strategist now working for Right to Rise, a PAC backing Bush, is ready to launch a new offensive against Rubio.
“Mr. Murphy has privately said to several people that Right to Rise would be ready to devote up to $20 million to fighting Mr. Rubio, according to several people told of the conversations,” the Times reported. “Asked about the figure, Mr. Murphy declined to comment.”
The Times also reported that Murphy was considering raising Rubio‘s record on abortion, insisting it would cost him if matched up against the Democratic candidate next November.
“In an attempt to blunt Mr. Rubio’s appeal and showcase a potential vulnerability against the Democratic nominee in the general election, Mr. Murphy recently showed some Republicans a video portraying Mr. Rubio as too extreme on abortion,” the Times reported. “A longtime opponent of abortion rights, Mr. Rubio said in a debate in August that he had ‘never advocated’ laws that would allow abortions, even in cases of rape or incest.”
Terry Sullivan, Rubio’s campaign manager, fired back on Monday night,
“Jeb's plan is to spend $20 million dollars to ‘damage Mr. Rubio's reputation.’ Not just talk about how they differ on the issues but to actively try to destroy Marco's reputation,” Sullivan insisted. “And they're bragging about that? How is that the kind of ‘joyful’ campaign that Jeb claimed he wanted to run?
“Marco didn't inherit a national network of wealthy, well-connected donors,” Sullivan added.
“Jeb's Super PAC has even produced a video claiming that Marco is too pro-life! Honestly, it's something we'd expect from Hillary and the mainstream media, but the fact that the Republican establishment believes this is what they need to do to take down Marco is astonishing.”
Rubio’s campaign launched a Web video, responding to whatever Bush and Right to Rise throws at him. In the video, Bush is showcased praising Rubio repeatedly.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
