Rubio Selected To Give First Post-Election Weekly GOP Address

Marco Rubio, the Republican who won Florida’s Senatorial race Tuesday, has been selected to give the GOP’s weekly address.

“With election day now behind us, it’s an honor to speak directly to the American people about the opportunity before us,” Rubio said in a statement released Friday by the Senate Republican Communications Center

The address, which will be given Saturday, marks the first since Tuesday’s election, where Republicans picked up 6 seats in the upper chamber

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConell praised Rubio as an embodiment of the Republican party’s “optimistic message.

His principled conservatism and focus on leaving a better nation for our children and grandchildren had a powerful impact in Florida and across the country,” McConnell said.

Rubio Gaining Momentum In Florida's Senate Race

The three-way political battleground expected in Florida’s November Senate race has seemingly become a one-man show, according to recent polls. 

A Rasmussen Reports poll reveals that GOP candidate Marco Rubio (41%) is currently holding a double digit lead over his Independent opponent, Governor Charlie Crist (30%), and Democrat Kendrick Meek (23%).

What was originally thought to be one of the tightest races of this year’s midterm election has now become as predictable as it looked during early primary season. Rubio’s recent momentum swing can be credited to the majority of Floridians who now favor repealing healthcare reform. Polls indicate that Rubio holds a strong favorable opinion among Florida voters, edging out his opponents.

Governor Charlie Crist will be faced with an uphill battle as he struggles to gain votes from people who lost confidence with both Democrats and Republicans.  His efforts to do so may have been shot down after an impressive Democratic primary victory by Kendrick Meek.  

In an interview with Chris Matthews Monday, Meek said “standing up for the middle class… is going to help us win the race.” Meek’s plan to make this a right versus left race and leave Crist on the back burner isn’t quite panning out the way he had hoped with him trailing Rubio by nearly 20 percentage points and Crist by seven.

Not all is lost for Meek, however, as polls show that nearly half of Crist’s voters say they are not 100% set on voting for the Independent, an interesting statistic considering voters who remain undecided going in to an election tend to vote for one of the two major parties. 

Senate Candidate Joins Movement To Repeal Healthcare Law

Add Ovide Lamontagne to the list of candidates running for office this November who have taken a pledge to fight to repeal the healthcare reform law signed by President Barack Obama earlier this year.

“What was known is that [the law] would take over nearly one sixth of our economy and puts it in the hands of the command and control planners of the federal government,” said Lamontagne, who is running for the seat occupied by the outgoing Judd Gregg (R). “What was not known was just how incredibly complex and overwhelmingly bureaucratic Obamacare would be.”

Lamontagne, who will face U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) in this fall’s election, joins conservative Republicans Sharron Angle (Nev.), Ken Buck (Colo.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Pat Toomey (Pa.), Mike Lee (Utah), Dino Rossi (Wash.) and Rand Paul (Ky.) as candidates who have vowed on record to reverse some, if not all parts of the law.

For some, their desire to repeal the law is rooted in its mandate on individuals to purchase health insurance by 2014 or risk facing punishment. According to Lamontagne, it’s the creation of added government to help carry out the law’s provisions.

“The legislation creates almost 160 new programs and bureaucracies…This is “progressive’ engineering at its worst.”

Additionally, Lamontagne says he is wary of newly appointed Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director Donald Berwick.

“Mr. Berwick, known for his views promoting rationed medicine, will now act as a health care Czar, overseeing a massive shift of a significant part of our economy to the federal government.”

Rubio Blasts Reid For Hispanic Comment

A prominent Hispanic Republican criticized Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) Wednesday for questioning how Latinos could side with the GOP.

Marco Rubio, Florida’s Republican Senatorial candidate, said during an interview with Fox News that the agenda the Majority Leader is setting will ultimately drive Latinos away from the Democratic party.

“The number one issue in the Hispanic community in America is economic empowerment,“ Rubio, who is of Cuban descent, said. “I believe a growing number of Hispanics will become Republicans because the agenda Reid supports kills Hispanic dreams for their children.”

During a campaign event Tuesday Tuesday, the Majority Leader said, “I don’t know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican. OKay? Do I need to say more?”

When asked by a reporter later to clarify his remarks, Reid responded, “My comment is directed towards how anyone could support what is going on now, especially with my opponent, being in favor of Yucca Mountain, wanting to do away with Medicare and Social Security, the Department of Energy and on and on.”

Reid is running for a fifth term against Republican Sharron Angle.