Bob Smith, the former New Hampshire Senator who now lives in Sarasota and is making a longshot bid for the GOP Senate nomination against better-known rivals Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio, pitched his candidacy at the Palm Beach County Republican Party’s monthly meeting tonight in West Palm Beach.

Smith didn’t speak ill of Crist or Rubio, but said his 12 years in the Senate (1991-2003) give him experience and seniority his rivals lack to push the conservative agenda in Washington.

“I know that this has been a very active quote-unquote two-person race. That’s the way it’s all reported,” Smith told the GOP activists. “It’s seven months away, folks. Straw polls and polls don’t mean a heck of a lot now. Anything can happen. All I ask is if you’re not committed, keep an open mind.”

Things got heated after Smith left.

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Gov. Charlie Crist’s U.S. Senate campaign has responded to former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio’s request for 10 debates in their Republican primary campaign:

“Gov. Crist looks forward to debating all of his primary opponents at the appropriate time, but he still has an important job to do, as the Governor of Florida. After preparing for the legislative session and a possible special session on SunRail, he hopes for an agreement on a suitable amount and possible dates to debate.”

Note that Rubio isn’t mentioned by name, but lumped in with the rest of the GOP field. While there’s no telling who will actually qualify for the ballot next year, the Florida Division of Elections lists eight Republicans currently running for the Senate seat: Crist, Rubio, Shawn Teeters, Belinda Noah, Bob Coggins, Gwyn McClellan, Marion Thorpe and former New Hampshire Sen. Bob Smith.

The latest Quinnipiac University poll of Florida voters shows Gov. Charlie Crist with a 54-to-23 percent lead over former state House Speaker Marco Rubio in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

Among Democratic voters, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek leads the field with 18 percent. More than half of Democratic voters are undecided. Eighty percent of Floridians, including 74 percent of Dems, say they don’t know enough about Meek to form an opinion.

Among all Florida voters, Crist has a higher job-approval rating (62 percent positive, 28 percent negative) than President Obama (58-35).

Click here to read the entire poll.

Taken June 2-7, the poll doesn’t include former New Hampshire Sen. Bob Smith, who recently launched a Republican campaign for Senate.