By most estimates, the GOP will hold on to Mel Martinez’s Florida Senate seat in 2010. Who will take that seat, though, is another question entirely. Despite momentum, popularity, and a long career in Florida’s service, incumbent governor Charlie Crist is no longer a lock. While Crist holds on to a lead for what now looks to be an interesting primary, he’s bleeding endorsements on the far right, while Rubio benefits from a small swell of popular support from conservative ideologues.
To listen to the Daily Kos, this is good news, presumably because Crist is more of a threat at the national level than Rubio. I’m not so sure.
Rubio – a young, loquacious man with a compelling life story – plays the moderate fairly well, keeping strategically quiet on hot-button issues like abortion & gay marriage. But this masks a very far-far-right persona. Rubio is a “tea partier” –
– with thinly veiled hostility towards the First Amendment (watch this video after minute 6). He voted to roll back keystone environmental protections in Florida, would have required women seeking abortions to view and pay for pre-abortion ultrasounds, and thinks that the “situation in Iran” would be a lot easier, if only the population were armed. In short, he’s an inveterate culture warrior who, on casual inspection, could appeal to moderate voters unaware of his actual record.
I remain deeply skeptical of the theory that the Republicans lost in ’08 because they weren’t “conservative enough.” It’s a modified form of the “No True Scotsman” fallacy, and completely unsupported by polling data (Rasmussen aside). But if anyone can construct a reality in which that theory somehow makes sense, it’s Rubio.
Rubio also supported an “academic freedom” bill in Florida in 2008.
Posted by James F | June 30, 2009, 10:29 pmUgh. Link?
Posted by ACG | June 30, 2009, 10:42 pmFlorida Citizens for Science. There’s more there, this is an example.
Posted by James F | July 1, 2009, 12:45 pm