Attending a local political party's executive committee meeting is like hanging out at a bus station at 3 a.m. Lots of interesting people to see and hear, maybe, but not exactly a representative sample of normal Americans.
So what are we to make of all these GOP straw polls? Marion County's Republican executive committee last week had one where Marco Rubio received 40 votes and Charlie Crist eight. In the straw polls, the most hard-core Republican activists keep snubbing Crist and overwhelmingly favoring Rubio.
Two explanations that aren't necessarily mutually exclusive: (1) Charlie Crist has a serious problem with the conservative base that eventually could spell trouble, and (2) local Republican executive committee members are breathtakingly out of touch with mainstream Republican voters.
"I recognize that these straw polls are an outlet for some frustrations that I think don't even have anything to do with the campaign, but they're not in the mainstream of what Republican voters are thinking," said state Republican chairman Jim Greer, noting that an internal state party poll last week by Public Opinion Strategies found that 67 percent of likely Republican voters approve of Gov. Crist's performance, as do 63 percent of all Florida voters.
Straw poll roundup
Crist can only hope his home county of Pinellas will be kinder when its local executive committee holds a vote in December. Here are the votes taken so far: Marion County GOP, Rubio 40, Crist 8, abstain 4; Hernando County GOP, Rubio 46, Crist 0; Gilchrist County GOP, Rubio 11, Crist 1; Republican Women's Club of Duval Federated, Rubio 65, Crist 4; Northwest Orange Republican Women Federated, Rubio 49, Crist 3; Jefferson County GOP, Rubio 30, Crist 6; Highlands County GOP, Rubio 75, Crist 1; Pasco County GOP, Rubio 73, Crist 9; Lee County GOP, Rubio 60, Crist 9; Florida Federation of College Republicans, Rubio 19, Crist 6; Bay County GOP, Rubio 23, Crist 2.
Riding the wave
Rubio has been riding a long wave of helpful publicity, from straw polls to the backlash over Crist appointing his longtime adviser George LeMieux to the Senate. The latest gift is a column by the influential George Will, who trashes Crist's conservative credentials and predicts Rubio will be Florida's next U.S. senator.
"Rubio intends to prove that in the most important swing state, you can run successfully as a principled conservative. He probably will," writes Will.
But there's a good chance all that glowing Rubio press ceases around Oct. 15. That's when campaign finance reports are due, and when Rubio will likely again face questions about his viability against champion money-raiser Crist.
St. Petersburg candidates on the air
Check out St. Petersburg City Council candidates Steve Kornell and Angela Rouson at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. today on Political Connections on Bay News 9. They are vying to represent the southernmost council District 5, but the winner will be elected citywide.
Tough road ahead one legislator?
It could be a long, miserable spring session for state Rep. J.C. Planas, R-Miami, whose attempted power play against Speaker Larry Cretul died in the hands of Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton. Galvano dismissed the rules complaint that Planas filed earlier this month after Cretul restructured committees and assignments — removing him from two major committees/councils). Planas maintained that Cretul "showed a complete disregard" for the rules by combining two budget committees into one.
Shannon Colavecchio contributed to this week's Buzz. Adam Smith can be reached at asmith@sptimes.com and is adamsmithtimes on Twitter.
Winner of the week
Bill Nelson. After being AWOL most of the summer on health care reform, Florida's Democratic senator has been all over the national media lately sounding like a champion for seniors and by trying to squeeze more money from drug companies and protecting the Medicare Advantage program. Who says pandering doesn't pay off?
Loser of the week
Scott Carruthers. The executive director of the Florida Justice Association might think about changing his group's name yet again to the Florida Sleaze Peddlers. Carruthers last week admitted the trial lawyers group funded a racist mailer sent in a heated state Senate special primary election in northeast Florida. With pictures of Black Panthers, President Barack Obama, the Rev. Louis Farrakhan and ACORN marchers, the mailer asked: "Is this the change you want to believe in?"
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