Crist And Rubio Agree: Don’t Change The 14th Amendment

There’s not much that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (I) and former state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R) agree on anymore. That wasn’t always the case, of course — they used to be members of the same party before Crist bailed on the GOP after Rubio was leading him in the Republican Senate primary. But it seems that the pair are back on the same side once again when it comes to the nascent GOP crusade to repeal or alter the 14th Amendment to the Constitution: Both reject the idea outright.

As the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports, Crist and Rubio “have both now declared their opposition” to the plan, supported by many top Republicans, to alter the Constitutional right to citizenship for any baby born in the United States.

The two Democrats battling it out for their party’s Senate nomination, Rep. Kendrick Meek and billionaire investor Jeff Greene, have also said they’re opposed to any plan to change the constitution.

The unity in feeling here in Florida likely means that “whoever wins in November isn’t likely to join with a growing group of Republicans trying to repeal the 14th Amendment of the Constitution in the name of immigration reform,” the Herald-Tribune reports.

The TPM Poll Average shows Crist leading Rubio and Meek 37.8-33.2-14.7. When Greene is the Dem, the TPM Poll Average shows Crist leading 37.5-32.9-16.4.

Here’s Rubio spokesperson Alex Burgos talking about the 14th Amendment in the Orlando Sentinel Tuesday:

“He simply doesn’t support changes and believes we should focus on securing the border and enforcing existing laws,” Burgos told the paper.

Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas notes that though Rubio seems to be adamantly opposed to an idea fueled by the more conservative wing of his party — which happens to be Rubio’s base, of course — there’s evidence that the Republican nominee is trying to keep his opposition to 14th Amendment alteration plans quiet. “[T]here is no press release or official statement” from the Rubio camp, Thomas writes. “So it’s not like Rubio is shouting it from the rooftops.”

Crist, on the other hand, is perfectly willing to let people know he’s opposed to the idea of changing the U.S. Constitution to, as proponents of the idea say, prevent illegal immigrants from using “anchor babies” to stay in the country.

“That would be unconscionable to me,” Crist told Chris Matthews when asked about the possibility of changing the amendment.

“If somebody is born in the United States of America, you are an American,” Crist added. “That’s the way it always should be. That’s the way it’s always been.”

Watch (14th Amendment stuff starts at about 5:35):