Marco Rubio versus Charlie Crist. Sounds like a heavyweight prize fight, doesn’t it?
The primary battle for the GOP nomination for the Senate seat of the retiring Mel Martinez of Florida promises to be a monumental slugfest with nothing less at stake than the future heart and soul of the Republican Party.
Rubio, the former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, is the son of parents who were Cuban exiles. At age 38, he is one of the youngest Cuban-Americans ever to rise to a position of power in Florida state government.
His rise was fueled by hard work and a willingness to speak forcefully on behalf of conservative principles and programs. He supported Gov. Jeb Bush during his tenure as the Sunshine State’s chief executive, and was an enthusiastic advocate for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s presidential bid.
Rubio is among the most creative conservative state-level political leaders in the country. Central to his bid for the speakership was a compilation of “100 Innovative Ideas for Florida’s Future,” which was published as a book by Regnery, and later became a web site, 100ideas.org.
Other GOP leaders have taken up Rubio’s 100 ideas approach, including former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who called it “a work of genius.” Rubio supporters claim that at least half of his original 100 ideas were adopted by the state legislature.
Rubio has generated a great deal of excitement outside of Florida, too. RedState’s Erick Erickson describes Rubio as “a bold conservative reformer. He has been an unapologetic champion of free people and free markets.”
He’s a tax-cutter, school choice advocate, traditional marriage supporter and a friend of entrepreneurship. On foreign policy, he advocates for a strong national defense, sees America’s role in the world as protector of individual liberty and opposes soft-line policies toward the Castro regime in Florida.
In other words, Rubio is exactly the kind of insurgent rebel that instantly strikes fear and loathing among Washington Establishment Republicans, the folks who for decades have harped about the GOP becoming more pragmatic than principled, being open to abortionists and gay marriage, and, above all else, not listening to that horrid Rush Limbaugh.
The silver-maned Crist succeeded Bush in the governor’s chair and has received generally high marks for managerial competence. He’s eligible to seek re-election and would be a strong favorite to win.
But he’s alienated Florida conservatives by appointing judges who are seen as too soft on crime and he’s gone out of his way to show himself open to activist government. That makes him the perfect candidate for the these so-called moderates.
He helped President Barack Obama gain passage of the $727 billion economic stimulus package, supports tax increases rather than spending cuts to eliminate government deficits and opposes vigorous stands on behalf of traditional values.
Crist talks a lot about the need for the GOP to encourage diversity, and Rubio seems like the perfect candidate to lead a newly invigorated party capable of appealing to Florida’s huge contingent of Hispanic voters.
Instead of seeking re-election and helping bolster the GOP’s campaign to retain the Martinez Senate seat, Crist is challenging Rubio in a primary contest that could easily become an intensely bitter struggle that divides the party for years to come.
Perhaps the most puzzling aspect of this contest, though, is the decision of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) to back Crist over Rubio, thus putting the national party apparatus squarely behind Barack Obama’s favorite Florida Republican.
These are the same geniuses who poured millions of dollars into the embarrassing Lincoln Chaffee’s re-election effort two years ago, and who now bewail the departure of Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican whose heart never really left Philadelphia’s Democratic machine.
Which raises an important question: If you care about championing individual liberty and limited government, why would you ever again send one thin dime to an entrenched coterie of campaign hirelings whose main goal in life is making sure the Democrats permit them to keep their lips firmly attached to Leviathan’s hind tit?
Mark Tapscott is editorial page editor of The Washington Examiner and proprietor of Tapscott’s Copy Desk blog on washingtonexaminer.com.
