“If Rubio can closely tie Charlie Crist to Barack Obama, he can alienate Crist from moderate independent voters who are anti-Obama.”
It doesn’t really matter how the primaries turn out. The Democrat Party is famous for gaming the results. Remember the Torricelli switch in New Jersey and the Carnahan dead man vote with the widow taking the seat in MO.
A midyear election is all about turnout. Rubio is running a campaign that will DEPRESS turnout among conservatives. Some others will figure that if there is not much difference between Rubio and Obama/Crist on Immigration or on the Moratorium, they will just vote Crist.
Also, remember this....If Crist is close to Rubio in October and Meek or Greene are far behind, Obama may very well orchestrate the withdrawal of the Dem candidate at the critical time to give Crist the boost he needs (exactly what Perot did for Clinton in the summer of 1992 by withdrawing; It propelled Clinton from third place to first place.)
These Dem hacks are pros at this and Rubio seems a little slow on the uptake, which infuriates me. He had better stop the pussyfooting and start running as a conservative NOW before it is too late. (And it may already be too late.)
I am tremendously frustrated that this Bush “reach for the middle” strategy that the hapless Rubio is pursuing is poised to turn a GOP seat over to the Dems.
You make an interesting point, but if Obama were to facilitate the withdraw of an African-American candidate to assist a white one, it could really depress turnout among that voter base. The ‘Rat Party may avoid such a move for that reason alone.
I’m surprised to see Rubio getting such bad advice. I guess that being new to national statewide politics can make a candidate receptive to such a thing. Can prominent conservatives gain access to Rubio and persuade on the error of this approach?