Word: rubio
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Florida Governor and GOP Senate candidate Charlie Crist went into his first debate against primary-election opponent Marco Rubio on Sunday with a nagging reminder of the deep hole his campaign has fallen into. Some voter polls in recent weeks showed Rubio leading Crist by 30 points or more; a more credible Mason-Dixon survey released on Friday still had the former Florida house speaker ahead of the governor by 11 points, 48-37, in a race many have labeled a critical battle between moderates and conservatives for the Republican Party's soul as it tries to rebound from...
...when Crist and Rubio squared off Sunday in a meeting televised nationally by Fox News, Crist came out swinging. He alluded early and often to mounting accusations that his rival has a history of using political donations for less-than-transparent purposes. Investigations by the Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times have found that while a state legislator and speaker, Rubio made thousands of dollars in personal purchases with a GOP-issued American Express card that was supposed to be used only for election-related costs (he says he has paid it all back). Among other apparent breaches, Rubio also...
...Crist backers say the revelations fly in the face of Rubio's image as a pristine, fiscally conservative political outsider - and the narrowing of Rubio's lead apparent in the Mason-Dixon survey does suggest the reports are blunting his surprising surge. "Speaker Rubio," Crist charged in the Sunday-morning debate, "views public service as a way to enhance his personal enrichment." Noting Rubio has yet to disclose his tax returns, Crist even asked if his rival had been "doctoring the books...
...Rubio called that accusation "outrageous" and said Crist is relying on desperate personal attacks to salvage a floundering campaign that enjoyed its own 30-point lead over Rubio this time last year. That was before last summer, when conservatives lashed out at what they saw as reckless big-government spending in Washington and cast Rubio as their man over the more moderate Crist. Rubio repeatedly hammered home his campaign message - that Crist had embraced President Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus plan, which Rubio calls a profligate failure. "I will stand up to [Obama] and everyone knows...
...Rubio's campaign argues that his record as state house speaker, when he ushered bills like an insurance overhaul for hurricane-harassed Floridians, reflects experience as well. But Foreman believes Rubio faces his own dilemma: whether to continue to keep a safe distance from, or buddy up to, the Tea Party fringe that has helped galvanize his poll numbers but remains skeptical about his commitment to red-meat causes like immigration restrictions and gun owners' rights. Still, Rubio's problems are slight by comparison. The only candidate who looks waxed at the moment is Charlie Crist...