More Indications of Charlie Crist's Vulnerability

{Originally posted at my blog Senate Guru.}

About two weeks ago, I wrote a post entitled "FL-Sen: Marco Rubio Crushing Charlie Crist Among Florida Republican Grassroots." I went through seven Republican County Committees in Florida that have either censured Gov. Charlie Crist, come very close to censuring Charlie Crist, or held a straw poll in which Gov. Crist was crushed by his 2010 Republican Senate primary opponent, conservative former state House Speaker Marco Rubio. While Crist enjoys the higher profile, heftier fundraising, and backing of the Republican establishment in Washington D.C., it's clear that significant resentment toward Crist exists among Florida's grassroots conservatives.

No matter how much money Crist raises (and he will considerably outraise Rubio), nothing can change the fact that die-hard conservatives in Florida neither like nor trust nor support Crist. If Rubio can adequately mobilize these conservatives and build their ranks by effectively highlighting where Crist dumps overboard conservative ideological orthodoxy, Crist can lose the primary. Finally, the traditional media is beginning to take notice.