FL-Sen: It Has Begun
The Club for Growth endorses Marc Rubio in his Senate primary against Charlie Crist.
It seemed pretty likely but was still just speculative that FL-Sen would wind up becoming a Big Deal. But the Club is not in the business of messing around lately, and there’s pretty much no way they don’t make this their marquee project. With the NRSC backing off (despite having already officially endorsed Crist), and with high profile backers running to Rubio in droves (to prove a point), Crist currently is the wearer of the biggest bullseye within the Republican party. Not a happy place to be.
What’ll be interesting is to see whether any moderates step in to defend him—including his friend John McCain—and whether the establishment Republicans in Washington and the related party organizations work to try to save his hide. I kind of doubt it. But if they do, get your popcorn.
If not, Crist could well go down. Whether he does or doesn’t though, he has been marked now, so whatever national aspirations he might have had beyond this race might well be going up in smoke one way or the other. And the Florida Senate race has now officially become ground zero for the fight over the heart and soul of the Republican Party.