The new Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll finds Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL) continuing to collapse in his Republican primary for Senate against former state House Speaker Marco Rubio. And what is more, the poll finds that switching parties might not be a viable option for Crist, either, with current Democratic candidate Rep. Kendrick meek performing solidly against Rubio.
In the Republican primary, Rubio now leads Crist by 58%-30%, compared to a Crist lead of 47%-37% in November 2009. Rubio has run a conservative insurgency based mainly on Crist’s support for President Obama’s stimulus bill, and it’s worked so far.
The cross-tabs on a particular question show the degree to which Rubio has monopolized the right-wing vote. Republican primary voters were asked whether they believe Obama was born in the United States: Yes 33%, No 30%, Undecided 37%. Among the “yes” group, Crist is winning by 66%-23%. However, among the birther “no” column, Rubio is ahead 74%-8%, and the birther-curious undecideds go for Rubio by 76%-16%.
In the general election, Crist leads the Democrat Meek by 45%-36% — but Rubio only has a statistically insignificant edge over Meek of 41%-40%. If Crist were to be the Democratic nominee, he does not perform any better than Meek, with Rubio ahead by 40%-38%. With Crist tested as an independent in a three-way race, Rubio has 32%, Crist 29%, and Meek 27%.
Kos writes: “So much for switching parties. We actually did a Democratic primary matchup between Meek and Crist, and Meek edged ahead 24-21, with 55 undecided, mostly going, “what the heck?” But at this point, Crist is no better than Meek, and given his cataclysmic downward trend, he’d eventually be a worse choice.”
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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