Republican Senate opponents Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio spoke one after another this morning at the Associated Press legislative planning session, and while they avoided a face-to-face meeting, they took swipes at one another. It must have been uncomfortable for the two, considering yesterday's polling showed Rubio in the lead for the first time.
"When Charlie Crist lined up behind the stimulus package, he cut the legs out from every other Republican who was trying to find an alternative," Rubio said.
But we have to wonder: If the Republicans actually found a sensible alternative, would Charlie Crist have been less enthusiastic about embracing Obama's plan?
"I don't have the luxury of going around the state and politicking all day. I'm going to do my job. I am the governor of Florida, and I am going to fight for the people every day," Crist said earlier.
Part of the job that day included promoting a plan to give $15 million to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for the team relocating its spring training facilities to Naples. The cynic in us wonders if there might be just a little politicking in that.
Quinnipiac didn't release the geographical crosstabs for the Republican primary question from yesterday's poll. However, heavily Republican Southwest Florida seems to be loyal to Crist. Fifity-five percent of Southwest Floridians would vote for Crist over Democrat Kendrick Meek in the general election, while only 45 percent would definitely cast their ballot for Rubio over Meek. That's the biggest gap in the state.
Sixty-four percent have a favorable opinion of the gov, and 61 percent in SWFla approve of the way he's handling his job. That's significantly higher than anywhere else in the state.
Maybe, just maybe, Crist wants to shore up support there by making a big to-do plunking a baseball team in the heart of Southwest Florida before Rubio makes inroads there.
