Crist to Rubio: Welcome to the NFL
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/25/art.getty.crist.jpg caption="His campaign rhetoric has been ramping all week, and now it appears that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is in full gloves-off mode."]
Washington (CNN) - His campaign rhetoric has been ramping all week, and now it appears that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is in full gloves-off mode.
Marco Rubio, his rival for the Republican Senate nomination, is on defense and crying foul over credit card records leaked to the Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times that show he charged personal expenses to the Republican Party of Florida while serving as House speaker, documents that undercut Rubio's image as a fiscal conservative. Rubio claims a Crist loyalist leaked the records.
But Crist's response Thursday was pretty simple: Welcome to the big time.
"The people have a right to know how people spend their money, how they comport themselves, how they conduct themselves before they put themselves up for public office," Crist said Thursday in Tallahassee when asked about Rubio's gripes, according to Florida's Capitol News Service. "That's happened to the speaker. He apparently doesn't like it. That's too bad. Welcome to the NFL."
While Crist was at the state capitol complex on Thursday, Rubio was in Arizona at a fundraiser.
But Rubio's campaign hit back at Crist's hypocrisy charges, blasting out a research document to reporters with a not-so-subtle title - "Lifestyle of the Crist & Famous: Crist's Hypocrisy, Desperation on Full Display in Latest Attack on Marco Rubio" - detailing instances of Crist's expensive habits while traveling out the country on the taxpayers' dime.
Leak or no leak you are an embarrassment Rubio. Physical conservative? Please..................
GOOD for Crist! He's actually one of the better Governors Florida has had. Can't imagine who would vote for that rube Rubio.
Let the gloves come off and the battle begin....
Rubio can decry hypocrite all he wants but Crist is not platforming his campaign on FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY, RUBIO IS!!!!!
Crist is a creep and will not win the Repubnican nomination for Denator here in the state of Florida. Basically, Rubio will have to beat 2 different Democrats to win, but win he will!
This is fun to watch. Go Crist.
Rubio's a slime-dog weanie weasel who probably has bigger skeletons in his closet than those revealed so far...
Makes me wish I lived in FL again so I could vote for Crist .....go Charlie go!!! And I am not even a registered republican
What did people expect? My suspicions about Rubio began when he started hanging out with double talking extremists like Jim DeMint. These guys just want to go back to the days of the Bush administration when they could fleece the American taxpayer for all they could get!
Oooooh man this is getting good.
I look forward to their first debate. Mr. Rubio's behavior is typical right-wing Limbaugh-ese – brutal criticism is great "free speech" unless it's criticism of him.
my o my two crooks trying to outdo one another. News people check out Rubios background and see if he paid back food , medical and educationl benefits that he and his family received as a cuban refugees. Now that they are wealthy enough to warrant such high expenses for the position he wants and held they should be happy to repay the US government for those benefits. He at this time continues to use government funds and CREDIT CARDS for personal advantage.
Governor Crist is a Chicago-thug politician calling himself a Floridian. Look at all the fees that have hit us in the past year or two - fishing fees, automoblie registration fees doubling, you name it. Look at him hugging the President. He is a DIRC (Democrat In Republican Clothing). At least we know in Mr. Rubio what we are going to get as Senator. With Governor Crist we won't know until he figures out what is best for himself politically. GO RUBIO!
I hope comments are still open, I suspect I am not the only person who caught the 'corporate card' comment about what cards charge 'swipe' fees...I calculate Mr Rubio owes someone 2-3 thousand dollars for those fees that should have been charced to his personal old Visa card...or is that really a way to get campaign donations to him via a not so obvious method...was it AMEX, or Discover, or????
Crist is a half wit, similar to Bob Corker in Tennessee. Arrogant. Deceitful.
Oh boy, one crook calling another crook a crook and feelings are being hurt, how in the world do we accept any of these clowns as our leadership. Why in the world would you vote for either?
Oh I know why, it is because we are only aloud to choose between to wrongs in every election. We can only vote for one of the two major parties, because they have set the laws up to give themselves a monopoly on the people's Government.
Yes little Marcolito, this really is the big time. Better learn to take your lumps.
Marco Rubio needs to grow some alligator skin, for him to try and deceive floridians into elect him when he can't even balance his own checkbook and watch his frivolous expenses is outrageous.
Is there an honest politician? Anywhere?
Hope Rubio has his big boy boxers on.
WHAT? MORE TEA-PARTY HYPOCRISY? SAY IT AIN'T SO . . . 🙂
I guess Marc "The Jerk" Rubio was expecting the media to give him the same "Hypocrisy Pass" Sarah Palin got during her short two-month stint on McCain’s campaign trail. Marco wants the media to ignore his hypocrisy until after Election Day.
Sorry Marco, you far-right wing-nuts have burned us once, but never again.