Rubio: The Beltway Candidate
Analysis by FrumForum reveals that Marco Rubio, running as the candidate of the conservative grassroots, has relied much more heavily on fundraising and promotion from Washington D.C. than Charlie Crist, the supposed candidate of the Republican establishment.
FF's analysis of Federal Election Commission documents indicate that while Crist has outraised Rubio overall, Rubio has been the clear winner of the Washington money primary. More than one-third of Rubio's money has come from outside Florida. 22% of that out-of-state money has come from Washington-area donors.
On the other hand, Crist has raised three-quarters of his money in-state, and only 13% of his out-of-state donations have come from the Washington area.
Rubio'outreach to the D.C. area involves four visits over the past few months: doing interviews with National Review and George Will, speaking to the bloggers of RedState.com and the activists of Americans for Tax Reform, and courting the Club for Growth.
These efforts have won Rubio a glowing cover story in the August issue of National Review and a prime speaking slot at next February’s Conservative Political Action Conference, once again in Washington.
In addition, Rubio has won endorsements or favorable coverage from the Club for Growth, Sen. James Inhofe, Sen. Jim Demint, George Will, Laura Ingraham, and Karl Rove.
While former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has not made a formal endorsement in the ongoing Crist-Rubio race, several signs point to Rubio as his favored candidate. When asked by FrumForum at a Washington, D.C. event whether he was ready to endorse Rubio, he replied, “not yet.” Bush has chided the National Republican Senatorial Committee for their early endorsement of Crist, and his sons are organizing a fundraiser for Rubio next month.
The message that Marco Rubio has used to captivate D.C. conservatives is simple – he’s one of them. "He's a young, energetic individual with a strong message that's based on grounded, conservative principles. He spoke on his record as Speaker in Florida and... well, he's definitely one of us," said Sergio Gor, the Director of Outreach at Americans for Limited Government.
Talk-radio host Laura Ingraham is an ardent Rubio supporter, and has invited him on her show four times. “He is a fiscal and social conservative with a straightforward, clear set of ideas that he persuasively and passionately advocates. He uses the 'f' word a lot, too - freedom,” Laura Ingraham told FrumForum.
Mike Connolly, communications director for the Club for Growth, which has endorsed Rubio, said that Marco Rubio is someone who understands the conservative movement’s concerns: “On the stump, if you just meet him, it’s clear that he gets it – that the federal government isn’t a little bit too big, that it’s a lot too big.”
Yet when it comes to specific issues, it is very difficult to pinpoint the differences between Crist and Rubio. As governor, Crist cut taxes by $22 billion. Crist championed school choice, favored parental notification for minors seeking abortions, and supported the Defense of Marriage Act. In 2008, the Cato Institute named Crist the most fiscally conservative governor in America.
By backing Rubio so intensely, D.C. conservatives have drawn a defining line: the ballot issue for them in 2010 is opposition to the Obama stimulus. Indeed, a candidate who does not denounce the stimulus is deemed unacceptable.
Charlie Crist, recognizing this, has quickly backtracked – a recent campaign ad features the Governor saying: “Enough is enough – that’s my message to President Obama.”
For Washington conservatives, the Crist message comes too late. But what if the angry mood of the capital's conservatives is not shared by voters in the nation's most purple state, where the president still draws a 53% approval rating?
