With four recent polls, including one from Sunshine State News, showing that Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running for the U.S. Senate without party affiliation, is trailing Republican former House Speaker Marco Rubio by double digits, the governor is taking to the airwaves to attack.
Meanwhile, both of his opponents focus their fire on him for flip-flopping.
Crist launched a new commercial Monday attacking Rubio for backing earmarks and special projects during his tenure as speaker. While Crist had pledged not to go negative, with Rubio leading in the polls by double digits, the governor is now trying to pummel the GOP nominee.
Besides the new commercial, the Crist team took Rubio to task on his personal financial affairs. Responding to an article published Sunday in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on Rubios personal finances, Crist spokesman Danny Kanner looked to tie these matters to Rubios public performance.
Was the purchase of Marco Rubios house in exchange for his vote on a major insurance law a quid pro quo? demanded Kanner. Did Marco Rubio know working people would be fired while he was being rewarded with cushy jobs for steering pork to a university and a hospital? How much did he really spend on the Republican Party of Florida credit card while speaker-designate, and how much did he fail to report to the IRS? All of these questions go unanswered in a new expose in todays Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Washington is broken because of fiscal irresponsibility and shady insider deals, continued Kanner. Looks like Marco Rubio would fit right in. Todays report chronicles what Floridians are learning every day Marco Rubios rhetoric of fiscal responsibility just doesnt match reality. Rubio needs to come clean with Florida voters.
As governor, Charlie Crist vetoed hundreds of millions of dollars of Marco Rubios special-interest giveaways, all while passing the largest tax cut in Floridas history, concluded Kanner. At the same time, Rubio was enriching himself through public service. The people of Florida deserve answers, and they deserve them now.
The Rubio team responded to Crists commercial by attacking the governor, who left the Republican party after polls showed he could not catch Rubio in the primary. Crist, the team said, has been inconsistent on the issues.
Charlie Crist is so desperate to not talk about his record of higher unemployment, failed $800 billion stimulus programs, wasted taxpayer dollars on European junkets and numerous flip-flops on Obamacare, that he has resorted to making up facts about Marco Rubio, said Alex Burgos, a spokesman for Rubio. Since Charlie Crist will say anything and change any position about his record in order to win, there's no reason Florida voters should trust what he has to say about his opponents.
No matter how much Charlie Crist spends on attack ads, nothing will change the fact that Marco Rubio is the only candidate Floridians can trust to challenge the direction Washington is taking our country and offer a clear alternative, added Burgos.
The Rubio campaign was not the only one on Monday to attack Crist for switching his position on a host of issues. The campaign team of U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the Democratic nominee in the U.S. Senate race, blasted the governor for backing offshore drilling, which Meek denounced Monday in a meeting with the Orlando Sentinel editorial board.
"This is yet another attempt by Charlie Crist to try and hide his conservative intentions as he stakes out positions on both sides of this issue," said Abe Dyk, Meek's campaign manager. "To have supported drilling 5 miles off Florida's beaches puts Charlie Crist on the ultra-conservative fringe of the Republican Party."
Mired in third place in most polls, the Meek camp hopes to win over Democrats and liberal independent voters who may be backing Crist as the best option to defeat Rubio. In the meantime, the Meek and Rubio camps ignore each other -- saving all their fire for Crist.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
