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John Cornyn: Charlie Crist can win In 2010 Florida Senate race — and save money

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From Human Events: Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, gave this interesting explanation to Human Events for why his committee has stepped in so early to support moderate Florida Gov. Charlie Crist over his more conservative challenger Marco Rubio:

“Gov. Crist is the strongest candidate that will enable us to hold the seat,” Cornyn told me, “Marco Rubio…[has] a bright future ahead of him, but right now the Mason Dixon poll shows Crist beating him in a primary by 53% to 18%.” By nominating Crist, Cornyn believes, “we won’t have to spend precious resources in Florida” to retain the seat of retiring Sen. Mel Martinez (who has also endorsed Crist).

So it’s not just about getting a winning candidate in Florida, but it’s also about getting a candidate who can win by a sufficient margin so that the party won’t have to spend too much money in a big swing state.

The Democrats have been able to behave effectively in this rational manner for recent cycles — probably the best example would be the recruitment of Bob Casey in the 2006 Pennsylvania Senate race. So the question here is whether the GOP’s current activist base can line up in the same way.

Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises and is the publisher of some of Florida’s most influential new media websites, including SaintPetersBlog.com, FloridaPolitics.com, ContextFlorida.com, and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. SaintPetersBlog has for three years running been ranked by the Washington Post as the best state-based blog in Florida. In addition to his publishing efforts, Peter is a political consultant to several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella.

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