Poll: Crist Senate bid gets boost from party switch

[klaasend]

http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2010/5/23/621623.html?title=Poll:+Crist+Senate+bid+gets+boost+from+party+switch

Poll: Crist Senate bid gets boost from party switch
Sunday, May 23, 2010

ST. PETERSBURG - After dropping in the polls against Marco Rubio as the favored Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, Gov. Charlie Crist has bounced back in popularity as an independent candidate, according to a St. Petersburg Times/Bay News 9 Exclusive Statewide poll.

Only a year ago, former House Speaker Marco Rubio was a double-digit underdog, but he had a strong conservative message that helped turn the Republican base against Crist.

Rubio overtook Crist in the polls, and for months, Crist trailed badly in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate.

It's now been three weeks since Crist bolted the Republican Party to run as an independent, and polls show strong support for Crist again.

Thirty percent of respondents said they would vote for Crist for U.S. Senate if the election were held today. Rubio came in second at 27 percent, and 15 percent said they would vote for Democrat Kendrick Meek. Twenty-three percent of respondents were undecided.

Marc Caputo of the St. Petersburg Times-Miami Herald Tallahassee bureau says Crist has one big advantage: his personal appeal.

"Even in a city council race or a student government race, it's who you really like in the end, and these largely become beauty contests," Caputo said. "Yeah, issues are important, but it's, 'Who do I like, who's most like me, who can do more for me, who's going to give me the lollypop, who's going to help me out.'"

(snipped)

[WhiskeyGirl]

For some reason, Crist seems to have disappeared from the media.