The new Rasmussen poll of Florida has former state House Speaker Marco Rubio taking a big lead over Gov. Charlie Crist in the Republican primary for Senate.
The numbers: Rubio 49%, Crist 37%, with a ±5% margin of error. Back in December, Rasmussen had the two of them tied at 43% each. A Quinnipiac poll from last week gave Rubio a narrower lead of 47%-44%, but this also showed clear movement in Rubio’s favor compared to the previous numbers.
Rasmussen’s analysis points directly to the likely cause of Crist’s problems: “Crist’s fortunes appear to be tied in part to national unhappiness over President Obama and his policies. Many conservatives began rebelling against Crist when he became one of the few Republican governors to embrace Obama’s $787-billion economic stimulus plan last year. The national Republican party establishment endorsed Crist early on, but a number of prominent national party conservatives have since announced their support for Rubio.”