We met Marco Rubio three weeks ago, as the young former state legislator announced his campaign for Senate, pitting him against popular and mainstream Gov. Charlie Crist in the Republican primary.
Crist has earned the ire of the conservative base for his avid support for President Obama's stimulus package. In a race that is already demonstrating shades of the epic grassroots-versus-establishment Lamont-Lieberman battle of 2006, conservatives even have their very own "kiss" picture to wield against Crist:
(Getty Images)
As such Rubio has been an instant hit with the teabagging wingnuts, and has been feeding them red meat with such gems as:
If Crist runs and wins, he will join Maine's Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe — a pair reviled by many conservatives — as the only Republican senators who supported President Barack Obama's stimulus package.
"If you agree with Susan Collins or Olympia Snowe on some of these issues, you might as well become a Democrat,'' said former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, a Republican who is likely to run for the Senate, whether or not Crist does.
Rubio will have some heavy assists from Boss Limbaugh, Club for Growth, and the rest of the conservative movement's leading lights, who have already dedicated hours of airtime bashing Crist for being a fake Republican in the Arlen Specter mold.
Looks entertaining as heck, doesn't it? Yup. But wait! That's not all! There's at least one person who thinks Rubio isn't wingnutty enough -- failed former New Hampshire Sen. Bob Smith, and he's
jumping into the race.
Former New Hampshire Sen. Bob Smith, now of Sarasota, has filed to run for Florida's open US senate seat: "I can no longer sit on the sidelines in the fight for the soul of the Republican party."
He called Charie Crist a "movement away from our core conservative values." And Marco Rubio? "Leadership is not about counting votes and making compromises. His experience as speaker of the House makes Rubio a good coalition builder. However, strong political leadership, not wheeling and dealing, will ignite our base and restore our party to power."
How hilarious can this race get?
Smith's fight for the soul of the Republican Party is particularly ironic since in July 1999 he quit the Republican Party while running for president and joined the US Taxpayers Party. A month later, he quit that party and became an independent. Soon after, he quit that non-party, and sheepishly returned to the GOP after endorsing Bush. In 2002, John Sununu easily dispatched him in the Republican Senate primary, and Smith fled to Florida soon thereafter. Which brings us to today.
Smith has no base, and all the leading conservative lights have cast their lot with Marco Rubio (as they should). There's precious little oxygen for Smith to have anything but the most token campaign, so in reality, he likely won't be much of a factor. But before the inevitable fizzle, we may be treated to some great comedy. And if we're really lucky, Smith somehow makes it onto the debates. Keep your fingers crossed.