Marco Rubio, the former Florida House Speaker and current conservative insurgent GOP candidate for Senate, seems to still have some life in him, despite the rush of money and establishment GOP support to moderate Gov. Charlie Crist.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that former Gov. Jeb Bush, a hero of the state's conservatives, told a local Republican club that while he is not endorsing either candidate, he does object to the national GOP's support of Crist in the primary over Rubio.

"I think he [Rubio] should be given a chance," said Bush. "I think that the idea that the national party would pick a winner a year and a half before an election is the wrong way to go."

Rubio is also aiming to get some mileage out of the latest right-wing target: ACORN.

Late last week, Rubio called on Crist to launch a state investigation of ACORN's activities in Florida, in light of recent scandals. And Rubio pointed to newspaper reports that Crist's administration itself has worked with ACORN in the past -- though of course Rubio acknowledges that Crist did so with only the best intentions.

"If you partnered with ACORN, I have no reason to doubt you did so unaware of ACORN's propensity for questionable activity, and with what you believed at the time to be the best interests of Floridians at heart," Rubio said. "However, given the recent revelations about ACORN, I believe it is now in the best interest of all Floridians for your office to provide a thorough accounting of its relationship with ACORN and what, if any, influence ACORN may have had in any actions you have taken on behalf of the people of Florida."