Newt Gingrich's 'Charlie Crist Vs. Marco Rubio' Strategy Hits A Snag

Yesterday, we made note of the way presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, along with his allied super PAC Winning Our Future -- who are totally not coordinating with each other, don't be silly! -- hit upon the strategy of comparing Mitt Romney, who the Gingrich camp continually describes as a Massachusetts moderate, to Charlie Crist. The comparison is apt, and obvious: Crist's own electoral ambitions hit a dead-end in 2010 after he failed to thwart Marco Rubio, who successfully pigeonholed him as being insufficiently conservative. To cement the comparison, Gingrich signed up Rubio's old campaign manager to help run his campaign in Florida.

Rubio himself has largely stayed out of the 2012 political fray, and he has not endorsed any of the candidates in the race. But the Gingrich campaign has apparently pushed the Florida senator past his patience. Yesterday, Rubio put out a statement rejecting the Romney-Crist comparison, and reminding Gingrich that Romney had supported his effort to win the Senate seat: "Mitt Romney is no Charlie Crist. Romney is a conservative. and he was one of the first national Republican leaders to endorse me. He came to Florida, campaigned hard for me, and made a real difference in my race."

And since then, the Gingrich campaign has apparently further rankled Rubio with a radio ad that he thought went a step too far. As the Miami Herald's Marc Caputo reports:

Sen. Marco Rubio scolded Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign over a Spanish-language radio ad that accuses rival Mitt Romney of being “anti-immigrant.”

“This kind of language is more than just unfortunate. It’s inaccurate, inflammatory, and doesn’t belong in this campaign,” Rubio told The Miami Herald when asked about the ad.

“The truth is that neither of these two men is anti-immigrant,” Rubio said. “Both are pro-legal immigration and both have positive messages that play well in the Hispanic community.”

Caputo reports that Rubio's rebuke got the Gingrich camp to blink and agree to take down the ad.

This all comes at a time when Gingrich is attempting to define himself as the candidate in the race with the most appeal to the Hispanic community. He has a long way to go -- a recent ABC News/Univision News survey finds that Romney is the candidate of choice for Hispanic voters by a fifteen-point margin. Alienating Rubio is not something that will aid Gingrich's effort. For more on Gingrich's attempts to woo Florida's Hispanic community, see this piece from HuffPost's Elise Foley.

READ THE WHOLE THING:
Newt Gingrich removes “anti-immigrant” Romney ad after scolding by Sen. Marco Rubio, other Hispanic leaders [Miami Herald]

Newt Gingrich Mocks 'Self-Deportation,' Predicts Big Win Among Latino Voters [HuffPost]

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Comments

[SpeakupNation]

01:34 PM on 01/26/2012

Did I miss where Newt claimed his family came to American fleeing communists?

[haval2]

12:29 PM on 01/26/2012

and the truth is Rubio and Gingrich suck.

[rf dude]

12:03 PM on 01/26/2012

" Newt-ie! You got some 'splainin to do!!"

[bluedog24]

11:03 AM on 01/26/2012

Oh my! A catfight among the Republicans! Pass the popcorn. They are fun to watch, as long as NONE of them get to run the county. We still need ADULT leadership.

[Eddie Martinez]

10:44 AM on 01/26/2012

Marco, “The Truth Will Set You Free”

[Steele361]

08:59 AM on 01/26/2012

Rubio says take down the ad or else...andale pronto! And watch your mouth next time!

[Steele361]

08:54 AM on 01/26/2012

Rubio is calling the shots, Haaa, haaa, haaa!!

[butlercaddie]

08:39 AM on 01/26/2012

Is Marco still relevant to the abuelitas on Calle Ocho now that it turns out his family "fled" Batista instead of Castro?

Better question, was he ever?

[Cassandra Velasco]

06:55 AM on 01/26/2012

So Newt Gingrich wants to "appeal to the Hispanic Community"? I think he perceives us as a mass of sheep who say "Baaa" en espanol, an amorphous, unknown but malleable herd of voters who will vote for Newtie en masse, if he just comes up with convincing border collie propaganda. He's probably hired a team of sociologists to figure out some magic words to say, and perhaps a dialog coach so he won't mispronounce "Buenos Dias." He just doesn't get it, and he never will. I have seen plenty of white politicians treat the Black Community this way, and then they were mystified why things didn't go as they'd hoped. Oh well, Gingrich can always go to the nearest Taco Bell and start singing "Ayayay, canta y no llores" in the parking lot. He'll believe that he is being relevant.

[mrkurtzhedead]

06:09 AM on 01/26/2012

Please Newton, don't inflict your terrible Spanish on our ears again.

[BigBearcatBill]

03:22 AM on 01/26/2012

Newt is Carpetbagger who landed in Georgia and convinced his district they could help whites rule the world again, which for some reason southerners really liked. He will say anthing to make him look better for the moment and get a vote, let him detail all the personal efforts he has put in to helping Latinos and all non-whites and see how much truth there will be in that. Nothing more important that showing what you have done when you are 68 years old, he has had a lot of time to show his love for other people not like him.

[Hank007]

02:47 AM on 01/26/2012

How funny to hear the one thing the tea baggers hate most, an 'anchor baby', school their candidate.

[noaxe396]

02:41 AM on 01/26/2012

The one good thing to come out of this war between Gingrich and Romney might just be a dimming of the politcal star of Chris Christie.

While Christie may sound tough when putting down a local NJ taxpayer who asks a question about tax fairness, he is no match for Gingrich.

[Steve Rockett]

12:54 AM on 01/26/2012

Ginger bought Callista a rubio at Tiffanys.

[Steve Rockett]

12:53 AM on 01/26/2012

Ginger will say or do anything to get the nominations. He is a terrible human being.