. . . and those Democrats had a fiercely contested primary, with one man dumping millions in the race while his opponent earned the endorsement of the incumbent Democratic President and a campaign visit from the immediate past Democratic president.
With 1,053,447 votes against two nuisance candidates, Marco Rubio bested the combined vote total of Kendrick Meek (513,648) and Jeff Greene (280,326) or 793,974. And even if we add in the Democratic nuisance candidates for a total of 897,015 and exclude the Republican, Rubio still wins.
In a two-candidate race, Rubio wins with 54%.
(H/t for the idea: Jim Geraghty.)
Charlie Crist could not be reached for comment, but we could expect him to take the 192,539 votes won by the Republican nuisance candidate and how many of defeated Democrat Jeff Greene?
Wow. Even in Polk County (purple-ish of late), he won by 19,095. I only caught a few minutes of his speech but I thought to myself “THERE’S a Great Communicator”. And then BayNews9’s Al Reuchel said the same and Betty Castor(D) agreed. Rubio talked about the greatness of this country like no other pol I’ve heard in forever.
If I understand the polling this morning, Crist was leading Rubio, but he needed Greene to win. Now, I suspect, he’s SOL.
I watched the polls last night and thought about how many more Republicans turned out versus Democrats. There are two things to consider.
First, Florida is a closed primary state, so Independents are not even factored into the turnout last night. They will be in November. All polls show Independents leaning Republican.
Secondly, Crist will take more votes from Meek—not Rubio. Add into the mix one of Obama’s top Democratic fundraisers and consults now holding fundraising events for Crist, and even more Democrats will jump ship for Crist.
November cannot get here quick enough!
Don’t worry – he will lose. Teabagger candidates will lose because their views are so far out of the mainstream.
Harbinger of things to come for November.
We takin Florida baby.
On HotAir yesterday: Rubio up by eight as Republicans, Democrats come home.
Is that analysis not correct?
The PPP poll shows Rubio beating Crist by a higher margin with Meek as the Democratic opponent. Interestingly enough, if Green had won, Crist’s numbers would have been higher. Meek won’t run well in northern Florida and in parts of the I-4 voter rich corridor that stretches from the Tampa Bay area east to Daytona. Crist is running with Democratic advisors..huh, whoda thunk it? Today’s St Pete Slimes ran an article that mentioned exit polling comments suggesting that Dems who voted for Meek in the primary will vote for Flip Flop Charlie in November, effectively splitting the Dem vote, not the independent or Republican vote.
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/PPP_Release_FL_823714.pdf
ILC, sums it up perfectly.
Honestly, I don’t see how anybody could support Charlie Crist. Has there ever been a more transparent opportunist in American politics?
Well V, there has never been a more orange one.
V, watch Crist’s poll numbers crumble in the coming days. I mean, how does he build on his numbers–he moves left, he loses the moderate Republicans who probably make up part of his support.
He moves right, he loses those Democrats who didn’t vote for Meek in the primary. It’s a lose-lose situation for him.
I’ll bite:
Then how come the “teabagger” won last night with far more votes than the guy who professes his love for Chairman Obama?
Lov Marco Rubio. First he is one of the most articulate, fast on hos feet Republicans on TV. He’s got a great family story, which as you know helped get Obama elected. (sarc)
Plus he’s just hott as hell.
This morning he was all over the channels on 3 hours sleep and the liberals still couldn’t trap him with their got ya questions.
http://www.marcorubio.com/
even $5 helps!!
Anyone keeping track of all of steves inane predictions?
Yeah, mainstream Americans just hate that extremist tea-bagger stuff about smaller government and spending restraint.
Opportunist egomaniac, Charlie Crist should not even try for the Republican moderates, the Republican-leaning Independents, or even Conservative Democrats since he’s still trying to woo & swoon President Obama, despite his falling poll numbers. Crist should go for the orange vote: Oompa-Loompas need to be represented with the spray tan models in Miami.
Don’t worry – he will lose. Teabagger candidates will lose because their views are so far out of the mainstream.
Yeah, sort of like how Scott Brown lost in Massachusetts even after the screaming Obama showed up and branded him a “teabagger”.
As opposed to his not inane predictions? 99 to 0 so far.
Republican nominees across the country are starting to pull ahead as often happens iabout this time of year. One candidate or the other fails to move at all.
Note, PA MO OH IND AR.