Fox News’s man in Miami reports:

Rubio has also recently received his share of criticism for his comments during an interview with a local Florida TV station, when he said he would have ultimately accepted the same stimulus money if he were in Crist’s position, a head-scratching comment for many Sunshine State conservatives, that lead to an opening for the Crist campaign to pounce. Rubio’s campaign fired back that there was a difference between accepting the funds, pointing to the example of Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin, and openly lobbying for them, as they accuse Crist of doing. In recent weeks, Rubio has also taken some hits from Florida media over his position on Cap and Trade as a senate candidate, and his position on the issue while state Speaker of the House.
The poll, Crist supporters argue, was conducted prior to these latest developments and does not show the current snapshot of the race.

I suggest the good folks on the Crist campaign offering that argument mitigate their enjoyment of the adult beverage of their choice – in Florida it would be mojitos, right? something with sugar cane? — because the poll was conducted Monday, December 14. The stimulus controversy, such as it was, occured with Rubio’s statement on Thursday and Crist spotlighting it that day and Friday. The allegations of flip-flopping on cap-and-trade were in the news on Friday, too.

(I can hear it now: “But Jim, this weekend all Floridians were focused on the injustice of Tim Tebow not winning his second Heisman!”)

I suspect Crist is fundamentally misjudging the race if he thinks his path to victory includes a heavy focus on saying, “Rubio used to say X, but now he says Y.” Check any poll — Americans are frustrated and dissatisfied, and that sentiment is only magnified in housing-bust-plagued Florida. Last November the state and the nation elected a crew to Washington that boasted they had all the answers and would deliver real “change”; the electorate is learning the hard way that “change” is not a synonym for “improvement.” Obama’s approval rating in Florida went underwater in late summer and has pretty much stayed there. Floridians are looking for a new senator who will stand athwart a runaway liberal agenda yelling “stop”; so far Crist hasn’t done much to persuade conservatives he’s that guy. Obviously, his record is far from a cavalcade of right-minded policy successes, but Crist has to at least try to make the case that he could be the guy who could curtail Democrats’ runaway spending.