Coffee with the enemy

Okay, the title is a little harsh ... really, I'm kidding. Mostly. ;)

But I took a few minutes this morning to swing by Pensacola's landmark diner, the Coffee Cup, for, well, a cup of coffee with GOP U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio. I didn't have time to snag any photographic evidence for you -- yes, I know, a dedicated DFH blogger would have gotten there on time -- but I did have an opportunity to introduce myself to the former state House speaker and chat for a brief time just before he departed, and at least I livetweeted the encounter. So there.

I'm not sure how many people were at the Coffee Cup specifically to see Rubio and I can't say whether folks were there but left before I arrived. I saw perhaps a dozen individuals there, including several reporters plus a crew from a local TV station, who wouldn't otherwise have stopped in for the restaurant's renowned breakfast today but for the candidate's visit. But he was working the room like a champ and, given Pensacola's conservatism, on which I frequently have commented here, I'm sure he felt right at home.

Seriously, although (as I said to Marco today) he and I disagree on essentially everything -- even his beloved Gators -- I wanted to welcome him to Pensacola (after all, it's still my home for a few more days) and compliment him on what I believe has been a hell of a good campaign thus far. Marco and I have communicated some on Twitter over the last few months, and he was kind enough to reiterate that he found this blog "interesting" even though we disagree. In the interest of bipartisanship, he also observed that a close friend of his is Democratic attorney general candidate Dan Gelber; I smiled and responded that I could identify with that, since I'm dating a Republican. As he left, Marco jovially expressed the hope that we could agree on one thing sometime. Let's see .... he's a right-wing Republican and a Gators and Dolphins fan. Nope, not likely. (I kid, I kid!)

The larger point, though, is that I was sincere in my compliments on his campaign. No one seems to give Rubio much of a chance against the political juggernaut of Charlie Crist, but I have disagreed with that assessment for months now. As early as last May, I said that Rubio had a decent shot against Crist, and his strategy has been, to my mind, pretty much perfect: focus on the party faithful, generally extremists who are disillusioned with Crist's perceived moderate stances on issues like accepting federal stimulus money and being seen with President Obama (the horror!), and enhance name recognition by handily winning county Republican straw polls and collecting the resulting headlines in the press. Moreover, who are the people who dominate primary voting? Party loyalists, of course -- precisely the kind of people who will vote for Rubio in the Senate primary next year.

Besides all that, there increasingly is a general feeling in the state, among Democrats and Republicans alike, that Charlie Crist is a failure as governor. He wavers between moderation and extremism, properly accepting much-needed federal stimulus money on the one hand and then selling out Florida's precious natural resources on the other. As soon as he does one sensible thing, like welcome President Obama to Florida last February, he has to do something moronic like snub the president the next time around to show Republicans he's "one of them." I don't give Republicans credit for much (except destroying America's economy, running Florida's public education system into the ground, etc.), but I'll say this: they know that Charlie's a waffler. And they like the straightforward (albeit wingnutty) approach that Marco Rubio takes. Plus, I have to admit: Marco seems like a pretty nice guy as well -- for a Gator/Dolphin fan Republican, anyway. (Again, I kid!)

I should add that it was a nice surprise to see the Miami Herald's Beth Reinhard again, after our panel discussion at the Florida Democratic Party convention earlier this month. She asked me what I thought of Rubio's campaign, and I answered that, for the reasons noted above, rank-and-file Republicans (read: wingnuts) more and more are looking at Rubio as a legitimate challenger to Crist; as someone to carry the "conservative" banner on their behalf. Do I think Rubio, if he were to win the GOP nomination, could beat Kendrick Meek in the general election? Of course not -- he'd get stomped because Florida as a whole is looking forward politically, not backward. But I've said it before and I'll say it again: the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in 2010 is not a done deal for Charlie Crist. And as national news media are beginning to see, Marco Rubio is a candidate worth watching.