Most here knew he was an open borders pimp, but in the primary it was him or "tan in a bottle," Crist, who registered as a democrat after he lost.
On election day, that was true (even on the primary election day, the choices were Rubio vs. two unknown jokes).
HOWEVER, it wasn't true when the race to succeed Martinez started. It was a wide open field and you had at least half a dozen Republicans exploring a campaign for the U.S. Senate. It very quickly became a two-way Rubio vs. Crist choice because the "tea party" groups made the SAME mistake they made in 2004, and endorsed Rubio the moment he jumped in the race, throwing all their money and resources behind him as THE conservative choice, and refusing to give any other conservative candidate the time of day.
Again, they have only themselves to blame for making the same mistake twice. You'd think after Martinez they'd learn to stop blindly endorsing whatever "rising star" shows up and tells them whatever they want to hear.