2/2: Sorry, Charlie

Last week we noted that conservative bloggers were thrilled when Quinnipiac Univ. released a poll showing ex-state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R) leading Gov. Charlie Crist (R) 47-44% among RVs in the FL SEN GOP primary. Well, now the rightroots are buzzing about a new Rasmussen poll showing Rubio leading Crist 49-37% among LVs. With two consecutive polls showing Rubio ahead of Crist, righty bloggers believe that Rubio has become a strong favorite, and they're predicting that Crist will soon back out of the primary. Jim Geraghty thinks Crist "could salvage some goodwill from conservatives if he were to withdraw now" and run against Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) in '12. Meanwhile, Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas continues to argue that "the only way" that Crist can win this Senate seat is by running as a Dem.

What else is happening in the blogosphere?

• After greeting last year's proposed budget with a torrent of praise, liberal bloggers had a more muted reaction to this year's budget, with Paul Krugman going so far as to call it "depressing." Not surprisingly, conservative bloggers (Malkin, Hinderaker, Carroll) are sharply criticizing it.
• Liberal bloggers (Drum, Yglesias, Black) are shocked that the Obama admin. expects the unemployment rate to be 7.9% at the end of 2012. Duncan Black writes: "My biggest hope is that they got burned with their overly optimistic projections from last year and are now making overly pessimistic ones so they can later claim 'victory.'" Conservative blogger Geraghty predicts: "If unemployment is still around 8 percent in 2012, Obama's a one-termer."
• Conservative bloggers (Malkin, Lane, Rubin) are excited that the VA state Senate passed measures making it illegal to require individuals to buy health insurance. Glenn Reynolds boasts: "Tea Party 1, Obama 0."
• The liberal blog Firedoglake conducted an interview with PA SEN candidate Joe Sestak (D).

FL SEN: What's Charlie Gonna Do?

Conservative bloggers think Crist will soon drop out of the GOP primary, now that two consecutive polls show him trailing Rubio:

• RedState's Erick Erickson: "Rasmussen has the political earthquake out today. Charlie Crist's team was unavailable for comment as they were in the bathroom collectively unable to contain themselves. [...] Maybe this is why the media is reporting Charlie Crist had beakfast in Miami with [VP] Joe Biden the other day. Perhaps Crist is planning on jumping ship or taking a President appointment to lead up the relief effort to Haiti."
• NRO's Geraghty: "[...Crist] does no better than Rubio in general election matchups, and he's left looking for a new justification for his candidacy, having established himself as a moderate man in a distinctly immoderate year. Choosing to run for reelection as governor would scramble the already-underway race for that office, but Sen. Bill Nelson is up for reelection in 2012, and conservatives might be a little wary of taking on a two-term Democratic senator. Crist could salvage some goodwill from conservatives if he were to withdraw now. He might look squishy and uninspiring next to Rubio, but in the eyes of Florida Republicans, he looks a lot more appealing than six more years of Nelson."

Meanwhile, liberal blogger Moulitsas continues to urge Crist to switch parties: "Everyone I talk to in Florida tells me that Crist is the ultimate political survivor, that he'll do whatever it takes to win. Well, I don't believe, and I won't believe it until he switches to the Democratic Party. Because if he wants to win his state's Senate seat, it's the only way he has a shot at it."

BooMan doesn't like Moulitsas' suggestion: "I'm somewhat mystified by Kos's decision to woo Charlie Crist over to the Democratic Party. Kos keeps insisting that Crist has no chance of winning the Republican nomination to run for the U.S. Senate seat in Florida, and suggesting that Crist switch parties. Now, I am not a huge fan of [Rep.] Kendrick Meek and I don't think he has a great chance of beating Mario Rubio in a head-to-head matchup. But he'd have some chance. And he's a Democrat. Maybe he's kind of a centrist Democrat, but this is Florida. I can live with that. [...] It seems unlikely that Crist could beat Meek or North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns in a closed primary. Why would Democrats vote for him? I know I wouldn't. And that's kind of my point. What good would Crist be as a Democrat if he were elected as one. He's got a decent environmental record for a Republican. And he's not a religious nut (see Terri Schiavo). That's the most I can say for him. Would he be better than Mario Rubio? Sure. He'd be better than most Republicans in Congress. That doesn't mean he should be invited to join the Democratic Party. I can make compromises to keep control of the Senate, but this one seems hackneyed and premature."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: The Corporations Already Outspend The Parties

The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder:

"For the first time in recent history, the lobbying, grassroots and advertising budget of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has surpassed the spending of BOTH the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee. This is significant. It means that the Great Transition has already begun. In the days following the decision in Citizens United, campaign finance experts predicted that the decision would open the floodgates of money for trade associations like the Chamber of Commerce. The influx of corporate money, according to some, would weaken the power of the political parties and candidates and lead the political parties to become less important. Republican lawyer Ben Ginsberg went so far as to say that the parties would be 'threatened by extinction.' And Ginsberg supports the CU decision!

As it turns out, the surge of contributions into the U.S. Chamber has already caused its budget on lobbying, grassroots and advertising to surpass that of both the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee for the first time in recent memory. According to The Center for Responsive Politics, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its national subsidiaries spent $144.5 million in 2009, far more than the RNC and more than double the expenditures by the DNC. The Chamber spent much of its money in 2009 on campaigns that worked -- it scared the Senate away from considering a version of the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade legislation, and an argument can be made that its cutting ads on health care (with money taken from some insurance companies) helped to undercut support for the legislation."

LEST WE FORGET: Vikings Stand Behind Brett Favre's Decision To Jerk Team Around For Months

From The Onion:

"EDEN PRAIRIE, MN -- Players, coaches, and front-office personnel are united in their support of Brett Favre's decision to waffle, demur, delay, beat around the bush, and generally yank them around for months on end while they wait for him to make a decision about his retirement. 'He's a living legend and our captain, so we support him if he needs to take some time to fuck with us,' said backup quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, whose future would benefit greatly from a quick decision by Favre and whose life and career are basically in limbo until the future Hall of Famer once again makes up his mind. 'We could only watch in envy as he did exactly this in Green Bay all those years, but to see him jerk around your own team... It's an honor, really.' Favre responded to questions abut retirement by confirming that he was planning to draw out the situation for months and would ultimately do whatever was most annoying for the team."