Marco Rubio
There is fresh turbulence facing the Florida Republican Party and the party's frontrunner for the U.S. Senate is trying to avoid being knocked off his stride by controversy.
Miamian Marco Rubio, the former Florida House Speaker, quickly reacted Wednesday to news of an IRS probe—first reported by our Herald partners—to determine if Rubio, former Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer, and another former party executive misused party issued credit cards for personal expenses.
Rubio told me, "I'm not aware of any probe. No one has contacted us, but let's get this squared away once and for all so we can get back to the issues." Rubio reportedly billed the GOP issued credit card for $100,000 while he served as House Speaker. He later paid back about $16,000 he called personal expenses and defends his actions. "I spent on political purposes," Rubio said, "and to the extent there were a handful of instances they were not political I identified that, I paid for it out of my own pocket."
Rubio's comments came on a day when it was reported that federal investigators have begun a wide ranging probe into freewheeling credit card use by GOP lawmakers and officials. Rubio pointedly noted that rival Charlie Crist's friend, Jim Greer, was handpicked by the governor to lead the state party until financial questions and criticism finally forced him out.
Rubio added, "Charlie Crist's chairman, Jim Greer, was a disaster for the Republican Party and no doubt these stories hurt the Republican brand." The question for Rubio is—how much might the questions hurt his personal brand especially when he is constantly preaching fiscal responsibility on the campaign trail? Meanwhile Rubio and the rest of the political world wait to see if Governor Crist will bolt the GOP for an independent run for the U.S. Senate.
He may have no other choice because Rubio is thumping Crist in polls of likely Republican primary voters. Rubio said, "I don't know what Charlie Crist is going to do and I would probably be the last guy to find out anyway. All I can tell you is I'm pretty sure it is going to be whatever is best for him and political career, not what is best for Florida or our country." Governor Crist is warned by virtually every Republican of note to avoid "jumping ship," but he can take solace in at least one poll that suggest he might be able to beat Rubio in November if he runs as an independent. Rubio professes to be unworried. He concluded, "You are talking to someone who was 30 points down in the polls a year ago at this time so I am not going to sit around and complain about a poll that has us virtually tied." Nowhere in Florida will the summer be longer or hotter than the Republican Party, where the questions and the controversies continue to build in the political free-for-all.
