Talk about hand-writing on the wall.
In what can be termed as nothing less than "big", the latest poll of the Republican candidates in the Florida Senate primary has House Speaker Marco Rubio ahead of incumben Governor Charlie Crist by 32 points.
Rubio now leads Crist 60-28, including a staggering 71-17 lead with conservatives. Crist has a 49-36 advantage with party moderates, but they account for just 31% of likely primary voters compared to 65% who describe themselves as conservative.
Rubio is benefiting from a widely held sentiment among Florida GOP voters that Congressional Republicans are too liberal and that Crist would add to the problem. 41% of them think that the party leadership in Washington is too liberal, and with those folks Rubio holds an 83-10 lead. 50% think that Crist himself is too liberal and with those voters Rubios advantage expands even wider to 90-5.
Wow.* And, believe it or not, it gets worse for Crist.
It also looks like its too late for Crist to audible and make another run for Governor. GOP voters say theyd prefer likely nominee Bill McCollum over Crist by a 49-35 margin. In fact Republicans generally just want Crist to go away- 56% say theyd like him out of office a year from now to 19% whod like to see him continue as Governor and only 14% who want him in the Senate. read more »