Former Arkansas Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee added his name Tuesday to the growing list of conservatives backing Marco Rubio, who is running for Florida's open U.S. Senate seat.
Huckabee, who ran for president last year, released on the Web
a videotaped endorsement of the former state House speaker, who is running to the right of Republican Gov.
Charlie Crist in the Senate GOP primary race.
"I've never seen a more energetic, articulate, principled conservative as Marco Rubio," Huckabee said. "There's no one I've seen on the Republican scene in a long time that is more committed to standing very, very firm on the things that matter to most of us like holding down spending, keeping taxes low and not believing that the government handouts is the way to build the economy."
Huckabee's political action committee, HuckPAC, indicated the endorsement was imminent last month when a fundraising e-mail mentioned Rubio by name, though he had yet to be endorsed by Huckabee or his PAC.
Members of the Senate Republican leadership as well as the National Republican Senatorial Committee have openly endorsed Crist, but conservatives have cried foul over the perceived attempt by these groups to quash Rubio's campaign.
Jim DeMint of South Carolina, a staunch conservative, earlier this month became the first Republican senator to endorse Rubio.
CQ Politics rates the race Leans Republican.
To see how the 2010 Senate races are shaping up, check out the CQ Politics' election map.
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Comments
With the knee-jerk right going all out for Marco Rubio in Florida and insisting that the GOP needs to be even MORE conservative, I'm hopeful that we can reach Jim DeMint's goal: having just 30 'pure' Republicans in the U.S. Senate. If by 'pure' they mean they are all as ultra rightwing and out of touch as Sen. DeMint, the GOP should become a permanent minority in no time at all.
Posted by: mag_amberson
| June 23, 2009 11:16 PM
"There's no one I've seen on the Republican scene in a long time that is more committed to standing very, very firm on the things that matter to most of us like holding down spending, keeping taxes low and not believing that the government handouts is the way to build the economy."
If this statement is considered "Ultra-Right Wing", "Knee-Jerk" or "Out of Touch", then all those times in previous posts that I affixed the derogatory term "Bolshevik" to the Dems and their supporters wasn't all that hyperbolic afterall. We are indeed living in a "Brave New World".
Posted by: NObama
| June 24, 2009 12:43 AM
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