Rubio Gaining Momentum In Florida's Senate Race
Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 9:49AMThe 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.
Rubio: Clinton Talks Highlight "Everything That's Wrong With Politics"
Marco Rubio, Florida’s Republican Senatorial candidate, is describing reports of President Bill Clinton’s attempt to talk his opponent out of the race as “a reminder of everything that’s wrong with politics in Washington.”
“This is basically an attempt to rig a backroom deal,” Rubio said during an appearance Friday on Fox News. “This is exactly what’s wrong in American politics today.”
According to a report from Politico, Clinton came close to securing Democrat Kendrick Meek’s departure from the race, a move that would clear the field for moderate independent candidate Charlie Crist, who is currently trailing Rubio. Meek follows behind both.
Rubio’s camp also sent out an email questioning the White House’s involvement in the negotiations.
“We … know that Crist personally talked with Clinton’s senior adviser and the White House,” the email reads. “But here’s what we don’t know: 1. What specifically did the White House know about this deal? 2. Who at the White House did Crist talk to? 3. Was the White House aware that Crist had agreed to caucus with the Democrats in exchange for Meek dropping out?”
The White House came under fire from Republicans earlier in the year when reports surfaced that Clinton had tried to convince Pennsylvania Democrat Joe Sestak to drop a primary challenge against Arlen Specter in exchange for an advisory position.
Clinton did not offer Meek a job, according to a Democratic source cited by Politico. Instead, Clinton reportedly argued that the decision would help open up future opportunities for Meek.