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Good time Charlie's got the Republican blues

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By RON RAE

The Rae Way

Published: November 22, 2009

Times are quite a bit different today than they were in February when President Barack Obama was in Fort Myers campaigning for the passage of the $787 billion "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act."

With open arms Gov. Charlie Crist embraced the $12.2 billion in stimulus funds to "help our state avoid budget cuts and prevent tax increases that would further burden Florida's families and businesses." The funds would also provide "assistance in education, transportation, unemployment compensation, renewable energy and other aid."

Since then, Crist's days have gotten bluer and bluer as he attempted to deny his endorsement of the stimulus package and said he had no knowledge that Obama was in Florida on Oct. 16 to address the Naval Air Station-Jacksonville, an act of disrespect toward the president.

Nor did the governor attend an event the following day in Arcadia where Obama announced the funding of $3.4 billion toward upgrading the nation's electric system to a "smart grid." As a proponent of clean energy technology, his absence at the opening of Florida Power and Light's new DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Plant, the largest of its kind in the country, was another political gaffe.

Unfortunately for Crist, a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Mel Martinez, these events fanned the growing flames of popularity for former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, who is also seeking the Republican nomination.

With videos filling the airways recapturing the moment when Crist hugged the president, Rubio put Crist on the defensive for an act of bipartisanship that labeled him a RINO (Republican in name only). The effectiveness of Rubio's maneuver soon showed up in the polls.

A Quinnipiac University Poll in November 2008 showed Crist with an overall approval/disapproval rating at 68/18 percent. An Oct. 21 survey gave the governor a rating of 58/30 percent. Although still considered an enviable position among governors throughout the country and in spite of the economy, it's the lowest approval rating in Crist's political career.

The figures could worsen.

It's bewildering that Crist went to such extremes to deny the support he had given when he accepted the stimulus funds that would prove beneficial to the state's worrisome economy. Nonetheless, Rubio, proving himself a young yet finely tuned politician, has played very handily at baiting the moderate base of the Florida Republican Party.

Sen. Mike Fasano of New Port Richey, a devout supporter of Crist, got tangled in the conflict during a fundraiser when Rubio made what Fasano felt was an arrogant suggestion that he, too, was in full support of the stimulus package. Intended or not, the fly-fishing tactic lured a response from Fasano that may spawn resentment among opposing factions within the Republican Party and create an unintended backlash for what voters may perceive as a power struggle not in the best interest of Florida residents.

It seems very peculiar that among 12 counties that have held Republican Election Committee straw votes, Rubio supporters have outnumbered Crist by 581 to 62, an unbelievable achievement over a short period of time.

It appears that Rubio has marked what he believes is his territory, and that territory encompasses the entire state of Florida. Of course, powerful political forces in Washington have planted their stakes and plan to claim the prize on Election Day. There should be a great amount of concern which path the National Republican Committee intends to lead the interests of the party in the coming months.

In a YouTube video, "Marco Rubio defines what true bipartisanship means," Rubio makes the statement, "We will not criticize someone else's ideas unless we are prepared to offer an alternative idea of our own."

In a letter to Rubio, Fasano questioned him what other option he would have offered if he hadn't accepted the stimulus funds from the Obama administration just as every other Republican in the country had done. To which Alex Burgos, Rubio's communication's director and previous spokesperson for the Mitt Romney presidential campaign, wrote a response filled with catty innuendos and sly belittlements and challenged to make Crist available for a series of debates that he has thus far refused to schedule.

Not only do Republicans need to take heed to the sentiments of voters within their own party, but consider the ramifications of Independent and undecided voters. Alienating any segment of the electorate may have resounding repercussions that could result in Democratic candidate U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meeks winning the Senate race in the General Election.

The American Spectator, a conservative newspaper, has called Rubio "the great right hope." The RNC must step to the side and let Florida's Republican voters nominate the candidate of their choice. Otherwise, what's left may not be right for their interests.

Ron Rae, a regular columnist for Hernando Today, lives in Spring Hill. He can be contacted at theronraeway@yahoo.com.

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