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While his Republican Party has been flailing and losing and dwindling to its base, Florida Governor Charlie Crist has remained extremely popular by governing from the middle. He has stocked his administration with Democrats, appointed a fairly liberal African-American Democrat to the state supreme court, expanded voting rights for felons, crusaded against global warming and enthusiastically supported President Obama's stimulus package. Crist's crossover appeal - along with his powerhouse skills as a fundraiser and campaigner - has made him a heavy favorite to join the Senate in 2010. To some observers, his success in the largest swing state could...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: GOP at War with Itself in Florida Senate Race | 8/12/2009 | See Source »

...those observers do not tend to be Republicans, much less the conservative partisans who tend to dominate closed Republican primaries. They've got a different vision for the party's future, and it looks more like Crist's 38-year-old Cuban-American primary challenger, Marco Rubio, a dynamic and telegenic ideologue who was the first minority speaker of the Florida house of representatives and is now described by fluttery admirers as an Obama of the right. He's a passionate defender of traditional Republican principles and wasn't part of the generation of Republican leaders who betrayed them...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: GOP at War with Itself in Florida Senate Race | 8/12/2009 | See Source »

...National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), thrilled to recruit a proven statewide winner who can raise cash without help from Washington, endorsed Crist the day he entered the race. So did outgoing Senator Mel Martinez, who announced last week that he's stepping down early, allowing Crist to select a sympathetic caretaker - he says he won't name himself - to keep the seat warm. Early polls suggest that Crist would easily beat any Democrat - the favorite is Congressman Kendrick Meek - and that he's starting with a 30-point lead over his GOP challenger. Crist also raked in a state-record...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: GOP at War with Itself in Florida Senate Race | 8/12/2009 | See Source »

...backlash by the right-wing blogosphere, and endorsing Rubio is becoming a trendy way for Republicans like 2012 presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint and former House majority leader Dick Armey to demonstrate their conservative bona fides. Grass-roots Florida Republicans are also refusing to anoint Crist; Pasco County's GOP committee, which supported him against a conservative primary opponent in 2006, backed Rubio this time by 73-9 in a straw poll, and Lee County's Republican activists gave Crist a similar thumping. Rubio did even better in Highland County, whitewashing Crist...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: GOP at War with Itself in Florida Senate Race | 8/12/2009 | See Source »

...Crist may be the most popular politician in Florida, but for the Florida GOP, that person would be Rubio's mentor, former governor Jeb Bush. His disdain for Crist's policies is an open secret in the Sunshine State, and his son has endorsed Rubio. Crist will still have a huge advantage in money and name recognition, but when choosing between a Republican and a Republican, Republicans usually pick the Republican. It's the same phenomenon that could doom party-switching Senator Arlen Specter in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary; partisans don't often reward bipartisanship. "Crist has focused...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: GOP at War with Itself in Florida Senate Race | 8/12/2009 | See Source »

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