"Republicans Headed For A Bloodbath In Florida." - David Frum

[WilliamPitt]

Republicans heading for a bloodbath in Florida
By David Frum, CNN Contributor
November 16, 2009 1:33 p.m. EST

Editor's note: David Frum, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, was a special assistant to President George W. Bush in 2001-2002. He is the author of six books, including "Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again," and the editor of FrumForum.com.

(CNN) -- The Republican fratricide in the November 3 special election in upstate New York may prove just an opening round of an even more spectacular bloodbath in Florida in 2010.

In New York, Republican feuding lost the party a seat in the House of Representatives. At stake in Florida is not only a senatorship -- but very possibly Republican hopes for 2012 as well.

The battle in Florida pits Gov. Charlie Crist against former Speaker of the Florida House Marco Rubio. Both men claim to be conservative, pro-life, tax cutters. On the issues, they would seem to agree far more than they disagree.

But on one issue they have disagreed passionately: President Obama's fiscal stimulus. Squeezed by his state's desperate fiscal condition, Crist endorsed and campaigned for the Obama stimulus. Inspired by his conservative ideology, Rubio opposed stimulus.

Now Rubio is the darling of conservatives nationwide. Just this week it was announced that he would give the keynote address at next year's annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. He has been profiled on the cover of National Review, endorsed by the Club for Growth, and feted by radio talk show hosts.

More: http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/11/16/frum.gop.florida.crist.rubio.battle/index.html

[ananda]

1. So sad.

Cry me a river...

[DainBramaged]

2. Anything we can do to help them?

:evilgrin:

[FARAFIELD]

3. Cue the very sad Cartoon Music

Wa... wa.... wa... waaaaaaa

[SoCalDem]

12. and bring in the clowns & balloons

[peekaloo]

4. The bloodier the better!

Jeb's toadie vs an Empty Suit trying to "out conservative" one another.

Color me naive and way too optimistic but I'm hoping Kendrick Meek is purposely holding back until these two elephant droppings turn hard and crusty enough to crunch beneath his shoes.

[peace frog]

13. +1 for naive and way too optimistic

Just hand 'em more rope and watch 'em string themselves up. Hang 'em high!

[peekaloo]

15. I'm telling Santa on you!

Actually I'm neither but living in a county where I'm outnumbered makes me say those kind of things. :hi:

[peace frog]

18. Same here

let's hear it for the despised heathen forced to live among the Elect. :toast:

[imdjh]

5. I find it odd that there are no youth photos of Rubio on the net.

He's good looking, he's from Miami. So where are the pool and beach photos from high school and college? Where are the candid shots friends send to acquaintances who then forward them to reporters?

How do these people lock down their past like this?

[Walk away]

6. Why doesn't Crist come out and become a Democrat?

It just seems so stupid to enter into a fake marriage and belong to a party you disagree with most of the time. I give him credit that he managed to get this far under those circumstances but why?

[Lochloosa]

21. Why doesn't he just come out?

:evilgrin:

[chemp]

7. This nonsense constantly reminds me of Monty Python...

Here at Luton it's a three-cornered fight between Alan Jones - Sensible Party, in the middle, Tarquin Fin- tim- lim- bim- whin- bim- lim- bus- stop- F'tang- F'tang- Olè- Biscuitbarrel - Silly Party, and Kevin Phillips-Bong, the Slightly Silly candidate.

[mopinko]

8. a circular firing squad is a lovely thing to see,

from the outside. can we pass the some ammunition, please? maybe obama can go make a campaign appearance for charlie. maybe he can kiss him on the cheek.

[FBaggins]

9. Both a US Senate and Gov seat come up in 2010

The state party will just get them to run for different things... probably without much conservative angst, since they would rather have the more conservative candidate become the Governor (making him more salable as a future presidential candidate).

This assumes that Rubio ever becomes a viable candidate state-wide. Right now I doubt he is. In order to play the spoiler role that we saw in the NY23rd, Crist would have to lose far more popularity statewide (supporting a stimulus to help balance the budget just isn't as damaging to a Republican as being pro-choice and pro-gay-marriage) AND Rubio would have to be willing to run apart from the party label. There's no indication of that happening at this point.

[get the red out]

10. This would be the same for Palin vs Romney

Romney can come off looking sane, Palin can't; and who would the Republican stronghold of the south prefer?

A southern strategy based on the love of theocracy, justification of racism, and promotion of ignorance poisons it's own well after a time.

[emulatorloo]

11. It is refreshing to see a conservative columnist defending the Stimulus

It was worth reading just for that.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

14. It's interesting how quiet Kendrick Meek has been through all this.

And I don't blame him. Just let him sit back and enjoy as the GOP rips each other to shreds.

Of course, some people here think having bitter primary fights within your own party is a swell idea, unfortunately.

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. True conservatives don't like the federal government giving them money.

Instead, they like to cheat at the local level and steal it on their own.

[ensho]

17. good, its time for Fl. to be neo con free

nt

[jimlup]

19. Don't count the bodies just yet...

Republicans are zombies already. They always come back from the dead when you least expect it. I'm old enough to recall Watergate. There were many who said that republicans were dead then. Just before the era of Ronald Reagan.

[David Zephyr]

20. It warms my old heart so to see this all in my lifetime.

:)