“Rubio is in great position to capture voters angry at Obama and wanting to send someone to Washington who will not support his agenda”
You are exactly right. The problem is that Rubio is not differentiating himself ENOUGH from Obama on issues of Offshore drilling and Immigration, specifically the Arizona law. He is trying to have it both ways (like Crist) and this is costing him. He should be WAY ahead now, but he is not. Crist is still 1.8% ahead of him on RCP, even with these MD results.
If this Mason-Dixon poll confirms Rubio in his wrongheaded “reach for the middle” strategy, it will turn out to have been bad news indeed. It will depress turnout for him in the Panhandle and along the I-4 corridor and he will lose. Hate to tell you but that is the truth.
Respectfully disagree. Nobody has been “way ahead” since Crist made this a three-way race back in April. The only two August polls, by Mason-Dixon and Rasmussen, both show Rubio ahead by 5 points (38-33%). Since Rasmussen doesn’t publish their internals, I can only base things off Mason-Dixon’s numbers and they showed Rubio with his highest level of Republican support yet (77-14%). Ultimately, this race is about Obama’s agenda and sending someone to Washington who will either support or oppose it. Rubio is the only avenue for voters who do not want Obama to get another vote in his favor in the Senate. No single issue, be it offshore drilling or immigration, will change that dynamic.