Charlie Crist

Via the St. Pete Times, the Sunshine State News reports:

Steve Schale, the state director of Obama's 2008 campaign in Florida, writes that Charlie Crist can't win. Schale is a supporter of Democrat Kendrick Meek, but he makes a pretty persuasive case:

The latest in a running series:

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist appeared to backtrack from statements he made regarding same-sex marriage during a CNN interview Sunday, saying in a statement that he does not support a Constitutional ban on the practice.

The comments appear at odds with what the Florida Senate candidate told CNN's Ed Henry on State of the Union, during which he expressed continued support for a ban on same-sex marriage.

In an interview with a local Florida TV station, governor and independent Senate candidate Charlie Crist says "I would have voted for" the national health care bill:

Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm, has a new poll out showing Marco Rubio in the lead in a three way race versus independent Charlie Crist and Democrat Kendrick Meek. Heading into today's primary, Meek is leading his Democratic primary opponent Jeff Greene by double digits--which is good news for Marco Rubio and bad news for Charlie Crist. PPP's Tom Jensen explains:

Former Florida House speaker and current GOP Senate candidate Marco Rubio just put out the following statement on the Ground Zero mosque:

"We are a nation founded on strong principles of religious freedom. However, we cannot be blind to the pain 9/11 caused our nation and the families of the victims. It is divisive and disrespectful to build a mosque next to the site where 3,000 innocent people were murdered at the hands of Islamic extremism. I strongly disagree with President Obama and Charlie Crist."

Orlando

In Florida, Quinnipiac shows that independent Senate candidate Charlie Crist has a lead of five or six points depending on which Democrat is in the race. The poll puts Crist at 39%, Republican Marco Rubio at 33%, and Democrat Kendrick Meek at 13%. And: Crist at 37%, Rubio at 32%, Democrat Jeff Greene at 17%. These numbers haven't moved much, and probably won't until the August 24 Democratic primary concludes and the candidates hit the airwaves with advertising.

Charlie Crist has already flip flopped on education, offshore drilling, and taxpayer-funding of abortion, so his comments in the Wall Street Journal today on Obamacare and Sonia Sotomayor aren't surprising.

The St. Petersburg Times reports Marco Rubio's campaign breaks a quarterly fundraising record:

In California, a new Field Poll of likely voters shows Senator Barbara Boxer leading Republican challenger Carly Fiorina just 47% to 44%. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

A new Chamber of Commerce poll gives Charlie Crist his biggest lead yet since declaring as an independent in the Florida Senate race: Crist takes "42 percent of the vote to Rubio’s 31 percent. Another 14 percent favor Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek, and 12 percent still undecided." According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, Crist has a 4.8% lead over Rubio. (Crist has been ahead of Rubio in four of the past five polls; they were tied in one).