Marco Rubio - U.S. Senate - 2010

TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Charlie Crist is one of the nicest guys in Florida politics. He is polite, soft-spoken and never forgets to say thank you, and he has an ability to remain calm at times others would lose their cool.

But threaten to beat him in the Senate Republican primary, and he will attack, as former state House Speaker Marco Rubio is learning. Crist, who calls himself a “happy warrior,” still smiles, but he is proving he will throw anything and everything at Rubio to try to win what is becoming one of the closest watched races in the country. Many of Crist’s attacks are exaggerated, take words out of context, are not true or are over the top. Rubio has also exaggerated or taken out of context some of Crist’s statement or actions, but not to the same extent.

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” Crist recently told supporters. “And we’re going. And we’re coming at ‘em, and they haven’t seen anything like this before.” Moments earlier, he quoted a line from President Ronald Reagan about not confusing kindness with weakness. “Shame on the other side if they do, because we are anything but weak.”

For months Crist acted as if he did not have a primary opponent. But as Rubio began steadily gaining and later passing Crist in the polls, the attacks have grown more frequent, mocking and personal, calling Rubio a fraud and untrustworthy. The attacks have covered Rubio’s home equity loan, his registering as a lobbyist and his putting personal expenses on a state GOP credit card.

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