Posted on 05/16/2009 5:09:57 PM PDT by MKAP001
Republican Backlash Brews
TALLAHASSEE -- A Republican backlash is brewing against the state and national party as they anoint Gov. Charlie Crist's U.S. Senate campaign -- thereby dissing that of his rival, former state House Speaker Marco Rubio.
From South Florida to Tampa Bay, a few county Republican parties are discussing or passing resolutions telling the state party to butt out of the Senate race or any other primary.
If the state party presses forward, Crist's election could be rockier than expected and his hand-picked Republican Party of Florida chairman, Jim Greer, could find it tougher to hold on to power.
''I like Jim Greer, but the ball is in his court. He needs to level the playing field,'' said Palm Beach County Republican chairman Sid Dinerstein.
''If he doesn't level the playing field,'' Dinerstein said, ``we have a serious problem in the Republican Party of Florida and we'll have to straighten it out at our July meeting. The press might want to be there for that.''
Hillsborough County's Republican Party passed a resolution Thursday demanding that the state party remain neutral. Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, Pasco and Hernando counties might follow suit.
The wave of resolutions was fueled by reports that Greer was talking with GOP higher-ups about whether to invoke party ''Rule 11'' to expressly endorse Crist.
Greer couldn't be reached for comment. Republican Party of Florida spokeswoman Katie Gordon said the discussions about ''Rule 11'' were preliminary. She downplayed the state party's potential involvement by pointing out that the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee endorsed Crist's candidacy within minutes of the governor's campaign announcement Tuesday.
Greer hasn't pushed for the invoking of Rule 11, and will take into account the input of county Republicans if they want the state party to remain neutral, Gordon said. Still, she pointed out, Greer is good friends with Crist.
''We have a governor who has a demonstrated record, an almost 75 percent approval rating and a very good chance at winning that Senate seat,'' Gordon said. ``Why would we not want to support him?''
For his part, Rubio said he just wants Republican leaders to ``give me a shot.''
Right now, polls and insiders suggest that Crist will have an easy time dispatching any rival in the 2010 primary or general election. But if the backlash against the party turns into a revolt, the primary might not be the cakewalk for Crist because Florida has closed primaries dominated by the conservative wing of the party.
Broward County state Republican committee man Ed Kennedy said Crist's embrace of President Barack Obama and his stimulus package cost him points with conservatives. And Palm Beach's Dinerstein said Crist and Greer's decision not to fully back a Republican congressional candidate embittered some Republicans.
But other Republicans, such as Orange County Republican Chairman Lew Oliver, said the counties should stay out of the fray.
One of the people needed to invoke the rule favoring Crist, national Committeewoman Sharon Day, said she doesn't support the idea.
''I think you're seeing a backlash because people were astounded that we would want to do this. Marco Rubio's not David Duke,'' she said, referring to the former Klansman from Louisiana. ``The party faithful just want to have a primary. Marco Rubio is a credible candidate.''
Times/Herald Staff writer Adam C. Smith contributed to this report. Marc Caputo can be reached at mcaputo@MiamiHerald.com
Sorry for the all-caps. Mistake.
I guess to the GOP it is going to be all about numbers and forget values and principles. And they wonder why they have lost so much.
Charlie Crist a Arlen Specter with a suntan..
Heard it on the radio thoughtit was funny..
Go Rubio.
If Florida grassroot Republicans could beat Chris and the party insiders on this by electing Rubio in the primary, it would be a tremendous boost for the rest of the country—to ride all the effete country clubbers who like to call the shots out of town on a rail and return the party to conservatism.
the state GOP # is 850 222 7920 if anyone would like to call and leave a message for them.
I would love to fill the message line up.
As I previously reported, Charlie’s hand-picked chairman of the newly renamed RINOPF—the fat, repugnant, narcissistic megalomaniac Jim Greer—has endorsed Crist and is mobilizing to use the RINOPF against the real Republican in the Senate race, Marco Rubio. He apparently thinks that just because he’s chairman, he can break with decades of tradition and openly use his title in the party to sway a Republican primary election.
His abuse of the RINOPF is nothing new. Jim Greer needed to be recalled almost immediately after taking over the chairmanship for his avaricious self-pampering and gluttony at the party’s expense. That’s not my problem since I’m not on the committee that oversees his behavior. But as Florida Republicans, we should not sit by as this guy destroys our party and our movement as he irresponsibly uses the RINOPF like a Charlie Crist fan club. Jim Greer is out of control, and someone needs to put a stop to it immediately.
That is why I am pleased to announce that we at Versailles Beat will soon be kicking off a grassroots campaign to recall Jim Greer. This will be a full-scale campaign to urge members of the RINOPF committee to recall Greer. More on that to come very soon.
We will continue reporting on this and other races and issues, as we have always done, however, this particular Senate race is shaping up to be a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party—a battle between real Republicans who believe in our founding principles, and parasitic liberal politicians who latch on to the Republican name to win elections for themselves and their cohorts.
UPDATE 5/14/09
We are officially launching the “Recall Jim Greer” Campaign in facebook. Click on the icon below, and this will direct you to the facebook group. You are free to leave comments, but be sure to join the group so that we may compile the list of members and send it to the individual members of the RINOPF committee that oversees Greer. Let them know that if they continue supporting this guy and his irresponsible use of his title, that we will not support them next time they run for the RINOPF committee.
Well, besides Crist giving obuma a lovey-dovey bear hug, what liberal policies has he embraced?
I ask this as an outsider, not involved in FL politics. I’m simply trying to determine in my own tiny brain whether Crist is a RINO and fill out my national scorecard.
:=)
You're supposed to use the original headline to reduce duplicate posts.
Whatever we have lost; it is no excuse for losing 'all' to a Party that has none. That said; no fan of Crist; but his ambition speaks louder than words . . .Too bad that Repubs keep finding themselves between a 'rock and hard place'.
Crist is not the Worst choice we could have for a Senator but he is no where near the best choice!
And this bull crap of the Party chairman CHOOSING who gets to run and throwing all the weight behind his choice in the Primaries needs to stop.
Let all who wish to run in the primaries do so and let the chips fall where they may.
Then the party bigwigs can get involved for the General Election.
The Miami HURLED is a liberal puke paper. But it is right on regarding how pissed conservatives in Florida are over the supposed Coronation of Prince Chuckles.
We aren’t gonna play, and Crist the RINO isn’t getting my vote.
Florida ping.
Right before the 2004 election, W came to campaign with Crist. Crist left him hanging with Jeb and met McCain in South Florida, a real slap. He is in the mold of McCain and the Arnie.
He is Bambi’s buddy, appearing with him in praise of the “stimulus” porkulus bill.
I am thinking of selling Bumper stickers and T-shits:
You have the audacity to insist upon an open primary? Don't you know that all the rules have changed and your "betters" are looking out for you?
Crist is a non starter.
Conservtive Republican Rubio will get the votes of the
majority of Republicans
While bashing Crist, remember to mention Conservative Republican Rubio running against him and who will win.
just in case you didn’t see this -
I just moved back to Florida 2 years ago. I was disappointed that Crist supported McCain in the primary, that he accepted stimulus money, and his generally lukewarm conservatism. I don’t know Marco Rubio, but intend to get to know him over the next few months since he sounds like a true conservative, as well as a young rising star of the Florida Republican Party. He sounds like the type of conservative I would like to see representing me in the Senate.
Crist is pretty much the same as Mel Martinez in my view. Rubio would be a move right toward more limited government, reduced taxes, and adherence to the Constitution. All good things in my book.
I presently live in Palm Beach County and I intend to vote for Rubio in the primary. He’s much more conservative than Crist. I’ve also lived in Miami-Dade and I know from personal experience that Cuban-Americans like Rubio are much more reliable than Republicans like Crist. Crist, to be fair, is strong on law and order and is a fiscal conservative; however, he’s demonstrated on too many occasions that he suffers from the “RINO disease.” Personally, I don’t care that Crist is ahead in the polls. He should be. Rubio, at this point, is virtually unknown. More important though is the question of do we just want a winner or do we want someone who wins and represents our true conservative convictions? On that question there is only ONE choice: Rubio
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