Rubio Hints At Running Against Crist

Marco Rubio wants is positioning himself as a hero to conservatives. Rubio is doing a lot of posturing about not dropping out of the Senate race, if Gov. Charlie Crist decides to run.

"My decision, which I'll announce shortly, will not be predicated on what anybody else does," Rubio said in a phone interview from Washington, where he gave a speech and had meetings this week. He brushed off suggestions that he may run for attorney general, saying he's passionate about federal issues.

St. Petersburg Times political reporter leave readers thinking Rubio could beat Crist. Smith compares Bill McCollum gubernatorial polling numbers to Crist's potential Senate candidacy numbers. McCollum has 66 percent definate GOP voter support. Crist received 23 percent definate amongst Republican voters. The voters are telling the pollsters they will definately vote for Crist and McCollum. This proves nothing about Rubio's chances against Crist. I don't know why Smith threw these numbers around.

Most voters aren't thinking about the Senate or Governor races. The only conclusion to make is Crist and McCollum need to get their GOP voter numbers higher for the general election. Democrats have a 650,000 registered voter advantage over Republicans. That doesn't mean Crist and McCollum can't win. Republicans are going to need a massive GOTV effort and GOP registered voters not to vote for the Democratic ticket. How Adam Smith translated Crist's and McCollum's numbers from different races to potentially favor Rubio is a leap.

Worse case scenario is Rubio gets his name out there for the public. Republican Party of Florida chairman Jim Greer is Crist's man. Crist will outfundraise Rubio and the GOP establishment understands Crist is the best candidate for the general election. Conservative principles will take a back seat to winning. Tom Gallagher would have beat Crist in the 2006 primary if conservative ideology mattered more than beating Jim Davis.