The Abyss Comes To Florida

This is going to make things a LOT more interesting down here in Florida.

With Republicans grappling with the fallout of an intra-party battle that may have cost them a House seat, the head of the Senate Republican campaign effort is making a pledge that may ease some of the anger being directed at the party establishment. "

We will not spend money in a contested primary," Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told ABC News in a telephone interview today."

There's no incentive for us to weigh in," said Cornyn, R-Texas. "We have to look at our resources. . . . We're not going to throw money into a [primary] race leading up to the election."

Cornyn said his pledge extends to races for open Senate seats -- not incumbents who may face primaries next year. The NRSC so far has endorsed candidates in four open Senate seats -- Florida, Missouri, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.

Cornyn's commitment is most immediately relevant in Florida, where the NRSC's candidate, Gov. Charlie Crist, is facing an aggressive challenge on his right from state House Speaker Marco Rubio.

Some of the same conservative groups that supported Doug Hoffman in New York's 23rd congressional district are making noises about backing Rubio, in a contest that could be the next showdown over the direction of the party. "We're seriously looking at it. We like Marco Rubio a lot. We think that Charlie Crist represents some of the same things that Dede Scozzafava represents," Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said on ABCNews.com's "Top Line" Monday. Scozzafava was the Republican nominee in the New York race.

Now understand that I believe that Kendrick Meek, the very likely Democratic candidate for the Senate here in Florida is more than equipped to dispatch Charlie Crist in a general election next year. But if the wingnuts come calling down here and push Marco Rubio past Crist in a primary it would be like a gift handed to us. The lesson they should have learned last night is that even in a reliably Republican district, if you push a Rush Limbaugh/Sarah Palin/Americans For Prosperity candidate you will lose. Instead these folks are now under the delusion that losing seats equals winning.

I can promise you that I won't be the one to try to snap them out of it either. As a matter of fact can someone send me some info on how I can help Rubio's primary campaign? I think its time for progressives to really get behind him in that race lol.