.Marco Rubio controls terms of first Florida face-off
Former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio used the first debate of the Republican Senate primary Sunday to repeatedly link Gov. Charlie Crist to President Barack Obama.
In a 40-minute face-off broadcast nationally on “Fox News Sunday,” Rubio hammered Crist for supporting Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus package — a bill deeply unpopular with conservative voters likely to turn out for the August 24 primary.
“The choice for Republicans in Florida is: Do you want a candidate that would have stood up to Barack Obama, voted against the stimulus and supported something that would have cost less money and created more jobs?” said Rubio. “If that’s the candidate you want, that would be me. Or do you want the next Republican senator from Florida to be someone who would have voted with the Democrats for the stimulus package, and that candidate would be Gov. Crist?”
It’s that frame on the race that has enabled the once-underfunded Rubio to stake out a double-digit lead against Crist, the early establishment favorite.
Crist not only defended his embrace of the stimulus but said that he would have voted for it had he been in the Senate, making the case that Florida’s economy was in desperate straits at the time and that his decision reflected an example of “putting people above politics.”
“As governor, you’ve got to make tough decisions,” Crist said. “I made the tough decision to utilize the funds to help the people of Florida.”
But, recognizing that discussing the merits of the stimulus won’t help him make up ground in the primary, Crist used the session to take aim at Rubio’s character.
Alluding to recent reports in the Florida press about Rubio’s use of a state party credit card and PAC for personal purposes, Crist said his rival abused the public trust.
“My opponent has viewed public service as a way to have personal enrichment,” Crist said, alluding to what he called Rubio’s “slush fund.”
In response, Rubio deemed the charges as personal attacks and returned to Crist’s support for the stimulus.
Indeed, for all the discussion in Florida political circles in recent weeks about Rubio’s spending, the debate was far more centered on the sort of issues important to a national audience and especially Fox’s many Republican viewers.
The result was that Crist was put on the defensive more than Rubio.
Moderator Chris Wallace grilled Crist on the stimulus, health care, taxes, immigration and Social Security.
As Crist sought to return the conversation to questions about Rubio’s character, Wallace repeatedly returned the conversation to the governor’s policy positions, which polls show haven’t gone over well with GOP primary voters.
On immigration, for example, Crist said he wanted to secure the border first but, asked by Wallace about the comprehensive immigration reform pushed by President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain, the governor said: “I don’t think they’re bad ideas.”
And on taxes, Wallace described in detail the levies and fees Crist had raised to balance the state’s budget, dismissing the governor’s claims that they weren’t broad-based.
Perhaps worst of all for Crist, he was asked repeatedly at the end of the debate to pledge that he’d not run as an independent.
“I’m running as a Republican,” the governor said.
Asked if he was ruling out a third-party run, Crist said: “That’s right.”
The governor said he would support whoever won the GOP nomination.
Politico
In a 40-minute face-off broadcast nationally on “Fox News Sunday,” Rubio hammered Crist for supporting Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus package — a bill deeply unpopular with conservative voters likely to turn out for the August 24 primary.
“The choice for Republicans in Florida is: Do you want a candidate that would have stood up to Barack Obama, voted against the stimulus and supported something that would have cost less money and created more jobs?” said Rubio. “If that’s the candidate you want, that would be me. Or do you want the next Republican senator from Florida to be someone who would have voted with the Democrats for the stimulus package, and that candidate would be Gov. Crist?”
It’s that frame on the race that has enabled the once-underfunded Rubio to stake out a double-digit lead against Crist, the early establishment favorite.
Crist not only defended his embrace of the stimulus but said that he would have voted for it had he been in the Senate, making the case that Florida’s economy was in desperate straits at the time and that his decision reflected an example of “putting people above politics.”
“As governor, you’ve got to make tough decisions,” Crist said. “I made the tough decision to utilize the funds to help the people of Florida.”
But, recognizing that discussing the merits of the stimulus won’t help him make up ground in the primary, Crist used the session to take aim at Rubio’s character.
Alluding to recent reports in the Florida press about Rubio’s use of a state party credit card and PAC for personal purposes, Crist said his rival abused the public trust.
“My opponent has viewed public service as a way to have personal enrichment,” Crist said, alluding to what he called Rubio’s “slush fund.”
In response, Rubio deemed the charges as personal attacks and returned to Crist’s support for the stimulus.
Indeed, for all the discussion in Florida political circles in recent weeks about Rubio’s spending, the debate was far more centered on the sort of issues important to a national audience and especially Fox’s many Republican viewers.
The result was that Crist was put on the defensive more than Rubio.
Moderator Chris Wallace grilled Crist on the stimulus, health care, taxes, immigration and Social Security.
As Crist sought to return the conversation to questions about Rubio’s character, Wallace repeatedly returned the conversation to the governor’s policy positions, which polls show haven’t gone over well with GOP primary voters.
On immigration, for example, Crist said he wanted to secure the border first but, asked by Wallace about the comprehensive immigration reform pushed by President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain, the governor said: “I don’t think they’re bad ideas.”
And on taxes, Wallace described in detail the levies and fees Crist had raised to balance the state’s budget, dismissing the governor’s claims that they weren’t broad-based.
Perhaps worst of all for Crist, he was asked repeatedly at the end of the debate to pledge that he’d not run as an independent.
“I’m running as a Republican,” the governor said.
Asked if he was ruling out a third-party run, Crist said: “That’s right.”
The governor said he would support whoever won the GOP nomination.
Politico
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