So the folks at Therealmarcorubio.com, who’ve already been tied to Charlie Crist, have come out with a charming video attacking Rubio.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X1GlvJt-2U[/youtube]
Holy Heck on a stick. Do you get that? So we have Rubio speaking Spanish, for half the commercial, reportedly supporting a felon with an uber-Hispanic name, and we have that other swarthy character- Obama- backing him up and praising him as a Cuban…and then “No Way. We can’t Trust Marco Rubio”. Note the “we”. Not you. We. We. We non-swarthy, non-Spanish speaking, non-Cuban American types. I’m sick to my stomach.
-
Matthew E. Miller can be contacted at Obilisk18@yahoo.com and at his Pawlentyesque blog
November 11th, 2009 at 9:35 am
I like the music in the background, it’s from Shawshank Redemption one of my favorite movies! But I agree this is a pretty bad video, I think Crist is going to be in trouble in this race.
November 11th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Wow, that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
November 11th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Wow. Why didn’t they just call this video “We can’t trust the bilinguil guy”?
I’m generally loathe to presume the race card was played, but this one is obvious. Could they really not come up with a clip of Rubio speaking English? This is more blatent than the TN ad done against Harold Ford. Here’s to hoping it backfired.
November 11th, 2009 at 9:41 am
That’s the most pathetic attack ad I’ve ever seen.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:02 am
The earlier post that tried to link Crist to some attack website was kind of a ho-hummer. But if a strong connection can be made between Crist and this ad, that could be a scandal.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:09 am
BTW, the Obama comment (repeated over and over) was completely disingenuous to any thinking person.
They both attended a NON-PARTISAN Cuban American dinner. This was not a Crist-hugging-Obama moment. The President said congratulations to THE FIRST CUBAN AMERICAN SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. My goodness! Rubio must be a socialist!!!!
Good grief. McCain and Obama have been in the same room before. They both said “congratulations” to each other. Does that mean they endorsed each other?
So, even beyond the blatently racist undertones, this was a stuuuuuuuuuupid, and dishonest ad.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:27 am
The sad part is that this is simply not going to be part of the Florida contest, this kind of business will hurt the GOP among Hispanics across the whole country.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Ohio,
Very true. The RNC and Crist need to get out in front of this and denounce it in the strongest terms. The people who made it should be outed and boycotted if they are professionals.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:51 am
“this kind of business will hurt the GOP among Hispanics across the whole country.”
If it works. This sort of tactic makes it that much more important that Rubio wins.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:58 am
The link to Obama was just stupid and an obvious stretch. My question is did Rubio actually support Martinez, or was he simply answering a reporter’s question on what Martinez needed to do in order to win? There somes to be a little bit more than “a bit” of a sleight of hand going on here.
I don’t know all the facts. Maybe they used the Spanish speaking clip because that’s all they had where they could suggest Rubio was “helping” the Democrat. That alone doesn’t prove that the ad is racist – though I will readily concede that it might be a play for the cracker vote in the Panhandle.
This is going to be long, drawn out and just as ugly as NY-23.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:01 am
“This is going to be long, drawn out and just as ugly as NY-23.”
Ironically, if this keeps up, I actually cannot disagree with that.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:04 am
This will backfire on the opponents of Marco… Thank goodness.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Adam,
“My question is did Rubio actually support Martinez, or was he simply answering a reporter’s question on what Martinez needed to do in order to win? There somes to be a little bit more than “a bit” of a sleight of hand going on here.”
I was wondering the same thing. Karl Rove says stuff all the time like “Obama needs to turn out the youth vote, etc…..” It doesn’t mean he SUPPORTS him. It’s just political analysis.
This is easily the scummiest ad I’ve seen in a long time.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:04 am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raul_L._Martinez
New anti-Rubio web ad
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2009/11/new-antirubio-web-ad.html
November 11th, 2009 at 11:09 am
The more I see about this guy, the more I like, including this video. This video was pretty contorted and full of holes if you look at it that way, but still you see a competent man speaking beautiful Spanish, clearly the guy is engaged and his heart is full-on American in every sense of the word. Bring the Latinos along, Mr. Rubio. Provide an alternative to the Univision liberalism they’re all raised on here. Teach them about freedom, conservative style. The Latino culture is a conservative culture. The United States government is just beginning to know the type of corruption you see in South American and Latino governments, thanks to Obama. You will begin to see why they vote for the hand-out; voting on principle seldom if ever prevails in their countries of origin. It is becoming that way here, once we accept the notion that candidates can do whatever they want in their private lives and still assume they can govern fairly and decently. Can’t be done. Not consistently, not long term. By the way, what ever happened to Sanford? Pawlenty looks like his twin brother to me, hope I’m wrong.
Go RUBIO!
November 11th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Nothing shows more clearly how scared Crist truly is. Way to play the race card. Classy move. Especially for a liar that supported the stimulus before he opposed it.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:12 am
You are kidding me. Charlie will do anything to win. “Sorry Charlie” you have lost this race. Get a real job.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Liz,
“By the way, what ever happened to Sanford? Pawlenty looks like his twin brother to me, hope I’m wrong.”
?????????
November 11th, 2009 at 11:17 am
That seems to say to me that Rubio was indeed just answering a question in a “Rovian” capacity.
What a bullshit ad. It insults my intelligence. No doubt the Cubans will feel the same. That’s probably precisely the point though – the Crist camp knows he won’t get their vote over Rubio.
So yeah, I suspect it was a racist ad. Shame.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:18 am
I just saw the video again. Regardless of how racist one thinks this is. It certainly is stupid. Some loose cannon in the Crist camp just exploded. Time to bring the producers of the video back on the reservation or show him the door. We just simply cannot have a repeat of this non-sense.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Florida Senate Candidate Marco Rubio Speaks Spanish To Win Votes, But Espouses English-Only Policies
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/06/17/marco-rubio-english-immigration/
Marco Rubio Supports DeMint’s Stance on English-Only Movement and Immigration
http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2009/06/marco_rubio_supports_demints_r.php
November 11th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Marco Rubio: Conservatives’ New Man in Florida?
Lack Of Support From Florida Party Officials
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114301303&ft=1&f=1003
November 11th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Lincoln Diaz-Balart beat Raul Martinez by 20 points. The insinuation that Rubio, 6 months before he opened a Senate campaign, supported a Democratic Hispanic candidate- who had no chance- over an incumbent Hispanic Republican, is just too stupid for words. It doesn’t even hint at attempting to make a serious argument. It’s just an excuse to point out, to Florida’s seniors, that Rubio’s a Hispanic, who doesn’t appreciate our language, and who probably only looks out for other minorities.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Rubio on the tax swap: ‘I’m happy’
http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2008/04/house-speaker-1.html
November 11th, 2009 at 11:37 am
#23.
Exactly.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:40 am
I wish we would do a tax swap here in Illinois. Our property tax rates are obscene. About $6,000 a year on a $250k house where I am.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:41 am
wow crist is going to lose worse then i thought
come on jeb, get behind marco asap
November 11th, 2009 at 11:45 am
(just saw the ad)
Wow!
Bye bye Charlie!
November 11th, 2009 at 11:45 am
“come on jeb, get behind marco asap” If Mr. Crist does not pull up his socks and get his act together fast, Mr. Bush won’t need to back Mr. Rubio because the Crist camp is starting to implode.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Haha, with all the heat now on Mr. Crist, the other RINOs can breath a bid easier because the spot light is not on them.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:47 am
We could probably win the Senate seat with either Crist or Rubio—unless the primary race gets a lot uglier and nastier. Anybody want to take bets on that happening??
It’s still not clear to me who paid for this ad. If it’s Crist, or if it was done with his blessing, I’ll side with Rubio. But what I see happening is a re-hash of NY 23, except that in this case, Crist is NOT a stand-in for Scozzafava. I haven’t seen compelling evidence that Crist isn’t a good Republican.
Giuliani was my second choice for the nomination last time despite the fact that he went to court to get the line-item veto repealed so New York City would get more federal funds. If I could forgive THAT, given the fact Rudy was really good on other issues that were important to me, I can forgive Crist for going after stimulus funds. You can make a strong case that he was merely acting in the best interests of his constituents.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Dave,
“I haven’t seen compelling evidence that Crist isn’t a good Republican.”
Well, none of the 177 House Republicans voted for the Stimulus Crist wanted passed.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:51 am
“You can make a strong case that he was merely acting in the best interests of his constituents.”
His constituents (and their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc….) will be paying for it too, along with the rest of us.
Money doesn’t just grow on trees, even if it is the Federal government spending it.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:53 am
It depends what you term as a good Republican MWS; to be fair to Crist, he is not as bad as Queen Dede. However, the party elite is looking silly again because did they not pour money into the Crist campaign. Mr. Steele is going to have to bring a few of these clowns on the reservation if he wants to keep the money flowing.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:55 am
“His constituents (and their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc….) will be paying for it too, along with the rest of us.” Shhhhh, MWS, some people think that Floridians do not have to pay money towards the federal debt.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Dave,
Crist wasn’t “going after stimulus funds”. I’ve seen no evidence that Crist’s support for the stimulus resulted in a higher proportion going to Florida. In fact, there was an interview somewhere recently that showed Florida 50th, 50th, and 32nd in the key measures, in terms of stimulus funds received. There’s a difference between accepting money and actively campaigning for a policy. Plenty of Republican governors took the former route. Pawlenty, for instance, accepted the stimulus money and probably encouraged Amy Khobawhatsit to make sure a decent percentage came to Minnesota. But, while the debate was going on, he opposed the stimulus, criticized it, said it was a terrible idea, etc. As far as I can tell, that had no bearing on the amount of money Minnesota received. Also…Florida has one of the two most important Democratic senators in the country. Bill Nelson has a sight more power to extract stuff out of Obama than does Charlie Crist.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:59 am
wow, that is disingenuous BS.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Charlie is looking desperate for sure.
The whole message of this ad: true Republicans don’t speak Spanish.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
#3 “This is more blatent than the TN ad done against Harold Ford.”
If we’re talking of the same ad, MWS, I reject the implication it was playing the race card. The one where a white girl mentions meeting Rep Ford at the Playboy mansion, shoved in amongst a variety of other snipets? I think one had to really stretch to think it was a message that Rep Ford wants white women, and to protect them, we needed to vote for Sen Corker. It was a stupid ad to begin with, but the race card?
November 11th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Matt,
Where have these guys been tied to Charlie Crist? Are these the people that Erickson exposed?
I can see this matchup not being very close at the end with the way that the trends are headed.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I was a supporter of Harold Ford when that ad went down, and I didn’t buy the racist cries. The underlying tone in that ad was “Ford’s young, a playboy, unserious”. Which is exactly the kind of message you want to promote against ANY 38 year old Senate nominee in a state as conservative as Tennessee. Yes, there was a white woman involved, but had it been a black woman, someone could have easily inferred other racist implications. I wasn’t SURE that a racist attack wasn’t intended, but it seemed unlikely enough that it didn’t prevent me from switching to Corker in the last week of the campaign.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Tommy Boy,
Yes, therealmarcorubio.com is the site where redstaters found the name of a Crist staffer in the code. They subsequently took the site down, removed his name, put it back up, and then issued all kinds of hedgy denials. It’s not enough to pin it definitively on Crist, but it’s close enough for government work.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Richard and Matthew,
I agree the TN ad was not obvious race baiting. Ford did go to the Playboy party, and most Playmates are white. But given the history of race relations in the South, I think it’s fair to say the inference that many would draw was a “bonus.”
The ad didn’t have to have anyone depicting a Playmate, or have the Playmate trying to “hook up” with Ford, however.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Matt,
Tie it definitively to Crist and I’m with you. But vitriolic, internecine strife in Republican primaries is not the way to elect Republican candidates.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Anyone with an ounce of political sense knows therealmarcorubio.com is just a front for Crist’s attack campaign, especially now that the staffer has been exposed in the Florida media. If Rubio keeps up with an aggressive and positive message he can take this one all the way to the bank – negative attacks against such a campaign tend to turn out like Deeds’ own did in VA. Complete duds.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
#43 MWS, some serious questions for you. 1) Did you see the ad, because I watched it play on tv (I lived there at the time), and (2) Do you live or spend serious amounts of time in the South, and Tennessee in particular (as it’s a little different than other Southern states)? If your answers are no and no, I would respectfully ask that you learn more about the South before buying into the “The South is a bunch of racist hicks” line of thinking that gets you commenting about race relations in the South.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
This is stuff is silly.
The real divisive issue is whether Marco Rubio supports the same amnesty bill that Mel Martinez did.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Haha, one of my best friends is a Blue Dog from Tennessee, but I never been to TN, Richard. I did see the Foed ad on You Tube several time. I thought it was funny as opposed to racist.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
OJ, the ad was goofy, for sure. Also, where (East, West, or Middle) does your friend live? There are completely different mindsets based on region, with the heavily conservative areas being concentrated in the east.
November 11th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
My TN friend now lives in Ohio, (still has the accent) but he is from the middle. I understand why you ask East, West or Middle because TN is sort of split into 3 slightly different cultural regions.
November 11th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Richard,
1) Yes.
2) No. I’ve passed through several times, but no “serious” time. I have a shelf full of books on southern politics, but I understand that’s not exactly the same thing. I think attitudes vary GREATLY from area to area. Your point about TN being a little different is well taken, but I would say that even within TN, things will vary a lot (as in other Southern states). I remember noting in an Atlanta mall that I saw more white and black kids hanging out together than here in IL.
But from my own experience (in central IL) I know things can vary a lot. In the little town I grew up in (3400 people, 99% white) racist jokes, stereotypes, and even slurs would be casually exchanged among strangers. Here in Bloomington (just a half hour away), no. So while such an appeal probably had no impact in much of TN, in some areas, it probably did.
At any rate, I consider the TN sort of a “jump ball.” I think one can fairly interpret it either way. This ad, no.
November 11th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
BTW, it may be a bit dangerous to argue about who is more Conservative especially with somebody who actually lived in TN, but I would argue that on some issues (not all) Eastern TN is no more Conservative than the middle (save for certain neighborhoods) it just has a longer history of loyalty to the GOP.
November 11th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
MWS: “most Playmates are white”
I assume you’ve researched the subject carefully.
November 11th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Bob,
LOL!
November 11th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Matthew,
Do you have a link that supports your accusation that this group has ties to Crist?
- Kris
November 11th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Was it Red State that proved a link between Crist and the dirty Rubio campaign efforts? Think so.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
The World’s Most Powerful People
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/20/power-09_The-Worlds-Most-Powerful-People_Rank.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33859565/ns/business-forbescom/?gt1=43001
November 11th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Pew Research: A Year Out, Widespread Anti-Incumbent Sentiment
Obama’s Afghanistan Rating Declines
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1405/widespread-anti-incumbent-sentiment-obama-approval-afghanistan-troop-levels
http://people-press.org/reports/tables/561.pdf
Some of the more interesting internals that caught my eye…
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president?
Among Men 18-49
Approve 49%
Disapprove 37%
Among Women 18-49
Approve 59%
Disapprove 30%
Among Moderate/Liberal Republicans
Approve 42%
Disapprove 44%
Among Conservative Republicans
Approve 14%
Disapprove 76%
Among Western Whites
Approve 48%
Disapprove 38%
Among Southern Whites
Approve 33%
Disapprove 52%
Income $75,000+
Approve 44%
Disapprove 47%
Income <$30,000
Approve 60%
Disapprove 30%
If the elections for U.S. Congress were being held TODAY, would you vote for the Republican Party’s candidate or the Democratic Party’s candidate for Congress in your district?
Among Men 18-49
Republican candidate 49%
Democratic candidate 40%
Among Women 18-49
Republican candidate 36%
Democratic candidate 54%
Among Moderate/Liberal Republicans
Republican candidate 91%
Democratic candidate 5%
Among Conservative Republicans
Republican candidate 94%
Democratic candidate 4%
Among Western Whites
Republican candidate 43%
Democratic candidate 45%
Among Southern Whites
Republican candidate 55%
Democratic candidate 31%
Income $75,000+
Republican candidate 50%
Democratic candidate 42%
Income <$30,000
Republican candidate 35%
Democratic candidate 53%
November 12th, 2009 at 4:53 am
What is still up with Western Whites?
November 12th, 2009 at 9:00 am
[...] Race42008.com has the video circulating by the “Truth About Rubio” website we previously exposed as the creation of Rich Heffley, produced in the offices of the Republican Party of Florida. [...]
November 12th, 2009 at 9:00 am
[...] Race42008.com has the video circulating by the “Truth About Rubio” website we previously exposed as the creation of Rich Heffley, produced in the offices of the Republican Party of Florida. [...]
November 12th, 2009 at 9:27 am
[...] Race42008.com has the video circulating by the “Truth About Rubio” website we previously exposed as the creation of Rich Heffley, produced in the offices of the Republican Party of Florida. [...]
November 12th, 2009 at 9:51 am
I like the background music. What is it? Does anyone know?
November 12th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Move along…nothing to see here – unless it’s Charlie grasping at straws.
November 12th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Corruption is now legal? As we freely choose to look the other way,our country being stolen and Obama calling himself religious constantly portrays corruption and statist minded counterrevolution, soft tyranny , destroying in the name of change our very founding..change to socialistic marxisism.He makes a mockery of the very foundations,laughing and high fiveing at funerals, too caught up in Himself and the Utopia hes made, as he dreams of leading the one-world government,funded by cap and trade,our hard earned moneys of john q. public.Going to copenhagen to sign away our U.S. sovereignty as a nation…rottenness and corruption,bait and switch,smooth like silk.Pass the buck,,,I say stop!!Its time to get to the bottom of it all, in both parties,, How do we get to the wait a minute!! Who stole the loot and who needs to go to jail!!! ?????
November 12th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
I read about this over at redstate and thought they were exaggerating when they said Crist played the race card.
It was no exaggeration. This is pretty bad, and I’m disappointed in Crist.
I do like the music, but that’s neither here nor there.
November 12th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
[...] The Race for 2012 website puts up the video of Crist playing the race card. [...]
November 12th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
OJ-I noticed that, too. They’re worse than the East. I assume that the western numbers are skewed by California. For some odd reason Obama is hugely popular in the Golden State.
My guess: Californians are deeply invested in the myth of being the “post-racial” state. Obama reflects that myth, so they like him. The myth holds a grain of truth. There are large Hispanic & Asian populations in CA. Also, the state was built by Americans fleeing the racially tinged Yankee/Rebel divide. Most of the black population came to escape Jim Crow. They’re quite right to be proud of the tradition of accepting outsiders, it is what makes this country great.
But CA is not unique on race. Their black population is shrinking at an alarming rate. At an anecdotal level, I know many black people who returned to the deep south. Many moved for jobs/economic growth, for the affordable cost of living & to be near family. Most important, the level of racial tension wasn’t noticeably different from CA.
This all flies in the face of CA’s self-image as an exceptional state. By most objective standards, CA is a terrible state. So they bitterly cling to the post-racial myth.
Toss in the fact that it is mostly Californians who are responsible for our current economic mess. Obama has shown no desire to hold the fiscally irresponsible house-flippers accountable. Instead, he blames Wall Street & George “Don’t mess with Texas” Bush for the current situation. In other words, he blames the Yankees & the Rebels.
November 12th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
This is just funny! Consider Crist as political toast. We in Florida are done with Charlie! He’s the worst “typical” politician I’ve ever seen. He can’t even tell a good lie!
November 13th, 2009 at 8:25 am
Wow. Really? We can’t trust Rubio because he knows other languages? Well, we’d better get rid of some of our other politicians in office then. While we’re at it we’d better get rid of all the non-white people in office. Is that what I’m getting here?
November 13th, 2009 at 8:48 am
OK, I’m not from Florida, but it seems to me this ad’s impact will not come from Rubio speaking Spanish or being introduced at a banquet by Obama. It’s impact will come from the charge that Rubio, the uber-conservative supposedly, backing a Democrat, and a corrupt one at that. Not buying the race-card charge.
November 13th, 2009 at 10:03 am
When you see only half-sentence or less quotes, they are almost always out of context and meaningless. This video is absurd. Proof that Crist is running scared and Rubio is in the running.
I’ve checked out Rubio. He’s the real deal. And will be good for Florida.
November 13th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Crist is scared. Very scared.
I predict he will drop out by the end of Jan 2010. But I could be wrong.
November 14th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
I’m from FL and I’ve met Rubio and I totally agree with Paul4Florida, Rubio is the best thing that can happen to FL in the forseeable future. Crist isn’t even a good RINO and FL is tired of the same ole’ same ole’. I encourage all Floridians, especially those with conservative values, or American values, same thing, to vote for Rubio.
November 14th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
I’m brand new here, but even a newby can detect that Aron Goldman is hardly looking out for any conservative interests nor interested in the objective truth. Among other things, in post #21 he quotes a Progressive website that converts ‘making English the official language’ into supporting ‘English-only legislation,’ which is not the same thing at all.
I’m even less impressed by the rest of his links. Apparently he has no original thoughts.
November 16th, 2009 at 8:42 am
[...] series of events started when R412’s Matthew Miller re-published a video from a website created by Rich Heffley, a close confidant of Florida’s moderate Republican [...]
November 16th, 2009 at 8:45 am
[...] series of events started when R412’s Matthew Miller re-published a video from a website created by Rich Heffley, a close confidant of Florida’s moderate Republican [...]
February 25th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
[...] to again supporting Obama’s stimulus bill and insinuating Rubio’s use of the Spanish language is some sort of concerete proof that because he is of Cuban descent he’s not [...]
October 17th, 2010 at 9:48 am
[...] I find reprehensible is that this publication seems to disregard this racist ad by the Crist campaign last year. Also, just because Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor is of Hispanic background, does [...]