Snagging the endorsement of a big-name moderate Republican is good news for Rubio. He has no worries from the right and it eats into Crist’s base. Still, Giuliani’s comments on today’s conference call do raise the eyebrows:
Giuliani said his endorsement goes beyond “whether Charlie Crist broke his word with me on several occasions — he did — that’s the reality, that’s the truth, he did break his word.”
Giuliani, as you may remember, staked his entire presidential campaign on the Sunshine State. After being blown away in the Iowa caucus and in New Hampshire, he shipped most of his operation to Florida, in a last-ditch effort for a primary win. He ended up finishing third, thanks, in part, to Crist endorsing Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) just days before voters went to the polls. Giuliani had been wooing Crist for weeks, and that eleventh-hour switch stung. Two years later, seems like it still does. In that sense, Rudy’s appearance today in Miami says more about Crist’s prickly relationship with Hizzoner than any deep-seated belief in Rubio. Yet despite the score settling, Ed Morrissey rightly points out that Rubio walks away the winner: “Normally, one might expect the pragmatists to attempt to rescue Crist, but this sends a big signal as to where the core of the GOP wants to go in 2010.”