The new Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll finds Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL) continuing to collapse in his Republican primary for Senate against former state House Speaker Marco Rubio. And what is more, the poll finds that switching parties might not be a viable option for Crist, either, with current Democratic candidate Rep. Kendrick meek performing solidly against Rubio.
In the Republican primary, Rubio now leads Crist by 58%-30%, compared to a Crist lead of 47%-37% in November 2009. Rubio has run a conservative insurgency based mainly on Crist’s support for President Obama’s stimulus bill, and it’s worked so far.
The cross-tabs on a particular question show the degree to which Rubio has monopolized the right-wing vote. Republican primary voters were asked whether they believe Obama was born in the United States: Yes 33%, No 30%, Undecided 37%. Among the “yes” group, Crist is winning by 66%-23%. However, among the birther “no” column, Rubio is ahead 74%-8%, and the birther-curious undecideds go for Rubio by 76%-16%.
In the general election, Crist leads the Democrat Meek by 45%-36% — but Rubio only has a statistically insignificant edge over Meek of 41%-40%. If Crist were to be the Democratic nominee, he does not perform any better than Meek, with Rubio ahead by 40%-38%. With Crist tested as an independent in a three-way race, Rubio has 32%, Crist 29%, and Meek 27%.
Kos writes: “So much for switching parties. We actually did a Democratic primary matchup between Meek and Crist, and Meek edged ahead 24-21, with 55 undecided, mostly going, “what the heck?” But at this point, Crist is no better than Meek, and given his cataclysmic downward trend, he’d eventually be a worse choice.”
