Conservatives invite Rubio to be keynote speaker at Washington event

The Club for Growth finally made it official this month and endorsed Marco Rubio for the Senate over Gov. Charlie Crist. The National Review made him a cover boy, and everyone from George Will to Laura Ingraham has touted him as more conservative than Crist.

But now Rubio is officially the new darling of conservatives across the country. He has been invited to be keynote speaker of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington in February, a widely watched annual event.

"Marco Rubio was asked to be the keynote speaker because we believe he is an articulate future leader within the conservative movement," said David Keene, chairman of the Conservative Political Action Conference and the American Conservative Union. "Traditionally, the keynote spot, the first speech of the conference, has gone to an up-and-coming leader."

Crist hasn't been asked to speak, though he did get some attention at last year's convention that came just a couple weeks after the governor embraced President Barack Obama and his stimulus package during a Florida rally. People booed the mention of Crist's name, and in a 10-person straw poll of potential presidential candidates, he came in dead last.

Dockery will enliven race

We're not yet sure about how competitive she'll be, but Republican Paula Dockery may emerge as the most interesting candidate running for governor. Check her out on Political Connections on Bay News 9 today at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Unlike the ever-cautious Alex Sink and Bill McCollum, state Sen. Dockery sounds the least political of the bunch as she decries the emphasis on big-moneyed special interests.

"I want to change the culture in Tallahassee," Dockery said on Political Connections. "I want to show the people in Florida that someone is listening to them and someone is fighting for them, and I want to take what has become an incredible amount of cynicism and turn it into respect and trust."

Fasano forgets stimulus stance

State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, is emerging as one of the most vocal Crist defenders and Rubio critics. Last week he fired off to Rubio and the media a letter basically calling Rubio an empty suit and challenging him to explain how, without stimulus dollars, he would have balanced Florida's budget "without hurting our seniors, veterans, children, and consumers."

Fasano seems to have had a memory lapse. He appeared on Political Connections on Bay News 9 in February and declared himself, unlike Crist, firmly opposed to the stimulus package.

"We shouldn't be relying on Washington and the taxpayers to bail us out. We should do that here," Fasano said, arguing that it would do little to stimulate jobs in Florida.

Palin plans 'Rogue' tour

Sarah Palin will be going rogue in Florida Nov. 24. Her book tour brings her to the Sunshine state with a morning stop in Orange Park, afternoon stop at The Villages, and evening stop in Orlando.

As Obama won, Crist called

The Florida headquarters of the Obama campaign were electric on Nov. 4, 2008. In the frenzy, a high-ranking official's cell phone rang. It was Charlie Crist's office. He wanted to arrange a call to the president-elect, who had not yet delivered his victory speech in Chicago.

Over the next two days, more calls. "They were persistent," the official told the Buzz.

It's not clear whether Crist ever got Obama on the phone, but the day after the election, he issued a statement praising Obama (no mention of John McCain) and calling on the nation to unite behind him "to strengthen our economy and increase opportunity for all Americans."

Greer backs Crist stimulus claim

Is it so hard for Charlie Crist to simply say he supported the stimulus package and that while it was far from perfect, he thinks it did a lot of good for the people of Florida? Apparently so, because practically every day Crist gives a new dubious explanation. Now, state party chairman Jim Greer is adding to the credibility gap.

Last week in a video interview with Tallahassee PR man Ron Sachs, Greer said that Crist "many times" said he would have voted against the stimulus package as a member of Congress.

Alex Leary contributed to this week's Buzz. Adam Smith is on Twitter as adamsmithtimes and can be reached at asmith@sptimes.com.