Gov. Charlie Crist’s (I) predecessor in the Florida governor’s mansion, Jeb Bush (R), has formally endorsed Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate race.
The endorsement was a long time coming. Bush has been known as a tacit supporter of Rubio for months now, and has been out on the stump calling out Crist for supporting President Obama’s economic stimulus and vetoing an education bill that was popular with Republicans.
Today, Bush made his support for Rubio official.
“With Marco, what you see is what you get,” Bush said in a statement. “You can trust him to look you in the eye and tell you where he stands. And most of all, you can trust that his principles will not change every time the political winds shift direction.”
Bush also took a swipe at Crist, who left the GOP last week to continue his run for Senate as an independent. Crist made the move after months of polling that showed him trailing Rubio badly in the GOP primary.
“Reforming Washington will not be easy and will require leaders who stay true to their principles even when the odds are stacked against them,” Bush said. “The last thing the Senate needs is another politician who has to take a poll to make a decision.”
Bush has already been a strong ally of Rubio, first by attacking Crist and later by backing up Rubio when he criticized the Arizona immigration law. The law is popular among Rubio’s tea party base, and the Bush’s criticism of it gave Rubio — the son of Cuban immigrants — cover to take it on.
Evan McMorris-Santoro
Evan McMorris-Santoro has covered politics for TPM since 2009. Before that, he was a reporter at National Journal’s Hotline covering election 2008. He started his career covering local politics at newspapers in TN and his native NC.
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