Can Rubio translate momentum into money?
by Michael C. Bender | September 28th, 2009
Gov. Charlie Crist, left, cheerfully brushes past his rival in the Republican U.S. Senate race, former House Speaker Marco Rubio of Miami, at the start of the Florida Republican Party's quarterly meeting in August. (AP)
Former state House Speaker Marco Rubio appeared to pick up a little momentum last week, but the question plaguing his campaign so far is whether he can put up results. At this point in the game (and just days away from another campaign finance deadline) results = money.
Many believe Rubio needs between $3 million and $4 million to give his underdog campaign a shot in a Republican primary against fellow U.S. Senate candidate Gov. Charlie Crist. Right now, Rubio is on pace to collect about $2 million by the Aug. 24 election.
Meanwhile, Crist hauled in $4 million in less than two months during an aggressive summer fund raising schedule that he’ll carry into the fall: On Friday, Crist will be at the Manalapan home of Dr. Krishna & Nirmala Tripuraneni, asking for at least $500 a head.
Campaign finance records show Dr. Tripuraneni, the owner of Palm Beach Gastroenterology Consultants and Palm Beach Surgery Center in Wellington, has not donated to a Republican in six years, with his most recent contribution going to U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach, in 2004.
But while both candidates race to Wednesday’s quarterly campaign finance deadline, Rubio is hoping he’ll be helped by the free press he earned last week from jumping on an audit showing problems with Crist’s civil rights restoration program for ex-felons, a shout-out from former Gov. Jeb Bush and a Sunday column from Washington Post writer George Will.
From Will’s column:
In January 2011, one Floridian will leave for the U.S. Senate. He is unlikely to be a former governor at odds with his party’s nominating electorate, or the probable Democratic nominee, Kendrick Meek, a hyper-liberal congressman. Rubio intends to prove that “in the most important swing state, you can run successfully as a principled conservative.” He probably will.
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Sentenced to die for crimes judged heinous and cruel, inmates await execution in a 9 feet by 6 feet cell.
September 28th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Since The Office of the Attorney General is as crooked as a one eyed dog sniffing up a rabbits a-s-s.McCollum should be in jail.
September 28th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Without question, Crist is the front-runner. But if Jeb Bush comes out and campaigns for Rubio, all bets are off.
Most of the Republicans with whom I have spoken are either supporting Rubio or staying on the sidelines during this primary. Crist’s reputation as “Chain Gang Charlie” that helped in him the GOP primary against Gallagher is now gone. Most of his support now comes predominantly from independents and Democrats.
However, many Republicans realize that Crist will have little trouble in the general election and are reluctant to get abandon a sure thing. Rubio is viewed as untested and there are concerns about him winning the general election, although just about everyone knows he’ll have a future at the state level.
If Rubio is able to raise some money and someone like Jeb Bush gets behind him, Rubio stands a strong chance of winning the primary. Most Republicans agree with Rubio on the issues and Crist has to carry the burden of supporting Obama’s spending and his drive restore felon rights.
Crist’s positions are far cry from the gubernatorial candidate who pledged that his first piece of legislation as governor would be an “anti-murder” bill.
I think this race will be competitive and it will be interesting to see what the poll numbers look like come March.
September 28th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
[...] Can Rubio translate momentum into money? [Palm Beach Post] [...]
October 5th, 2009 at 11:26 am
For Charlie Crist winning Pinellas has become his firewall against Rubio’s straw ballot insurgency.
http://bit.ly/8AU3k