Rubio Has Best Quarter Yet
Ex-FL House Speaker Marco Rubio (R) announced this a.m. that he raised $1.75M in the 4thQ '09, nearly matching FL Gov. Charlie Crist's (R) total during the same period.
The numbers are more good news for Rubio, whose campaign seems to be riding a wave of momentum bolstered by any number of conservative victories, from Doug Hoffman's candidacy in NY-23 to Sen.-elect Scott Brown's (R) win in MA to Rubio's own victories in straw polls across FL.
Now, a new Quinnipiac poll out this a.m. shows Rubio leading Crist for the first time. And an endorsement by ex-FL Gov. Jeb Bush (R) could be a matter of "when," not "if," following the endorsement of Bush's son, George P. Bush, last week.
Despite his impressive 4thQ haul, Rubio still lags far behind Crist in terms of CoH. Crist currently has a hefty $7.5M in his war chest, dwarfing Rubio's $2M. That means Crist is well-positioned going into the seven months remaining until the 8/24 GOP primary.
Crist's haul over the last quarter was $2M, still an impressive amount of cash but far off the break-neck pace Crist set over the race's first several months.
When Rubio was dragging in polling and fundraising, the Crist camp remained disengaged. But in recent months, that's changed, with Crist and aides now actively pursuing an offensive against Rubio's record on spending and immigration.
But thus far, that offensive hasn't forced Crist to dip into his campaign coffers for any significant expenditures against his conservative opponent.
If Rubio is indeed riding a Brown-like wave of momentum, Crist might do well to learn from the missteps of MA AG
Martha Coakley (D) and start spending -- soon.