Fresh off his visit to Alabama to discuss water woes with fellow GOP Governors Bob Riley and Georgia's Sonny Perdue, Governor Charlie Crist is due in Tampa Wednesday morning to sign Florida's rail legislation bill.
Of course, we shouldn't feel so lucky; Crist is replaying the signing at events in Tallahassee, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale as well.
The Governor was a champion of the bill when it was working its way thru the special session held earlier this month, and at one point said it would be a "catastrophe" if the legislation didn't make it through the legislature (He also said that's its passage would provide funding for high speed rail and thus bring over 14,000 jobs to the state).
The Governor was sure talking tough Monday night when he spoke in front of his hometown fellow Republicans, dissing Marco Rubio in a far sassier way than we've heard from him up until the last week.
As the St. Pete Times reported,
"When you hear people out there on the campaign trail talking about what they're going to do, look at what they've already done,'' said Crist, going on to cast Rubio as a big-spending, tax-raiser. "Let's make sure the words meet the facts. I don't believe in raising taxes. I'm running against someone who wanted to,'' said Crist, apparently referring to Rubio's support of a plan to raise sales taxes while cutting property taxes.
This follows comments Crist made late last week, when he said he wasn't sure he could ever debate his GOP opponent because "I don't know if it would be worthwhile because I can't have any confidence in what he might say."
He followed that up by saying, "one thing comes out of his mouth and another thing is his record. It's hard to have any confidence in what he says anymore."
Meanwhile, a pollster favored by the folks at Fox News, Rasmussen, has a new survey out that shows Marco Rubio with his best showing yet, tied with Crist at 43% in their race for the Senate.
Rasmussen reports:
Crist, well known throughout the state, has seen his ratings go in the opposite direction. Just 19% now have a Very Favorable opinion of him, a figure that represents a double digit decline since August.
I look forward to the next Quinnipiac poll between the candidates.
