The LeMieux-Rubio lovefest

Something worth noting:

When George LeMieux was appointed to the U.S. Senate last August, this was how he articulated his political philosophy:

 "I describe myself as a Charlie Crist Republican," LeMieux said at the time.

When asked what that meant, LeMieux said he planned to back the principles of his party, including lower spending, but that he would "work with anyone" who wanted to solve problems. He also said last year that "my view is that we are all Americans first and Floridians first and then comes party."

Flash forward to this year.

Crist bolted the Republican Party after it became apparent that he could not win the GOP primary for U.S. Senate against Marco Rubio. Despite LeMieux's deep ties with Crist - campaign manager, chief of staff and architect of some of Crist's policy initiatives - he opted against backing Crist in the race.

When LeMieux appeared at the quarterly meeting of the Republican Party of Florida earlier this month, he went even further and urged GOP leaders to "work hard" to elect Rubio and praised him for the "courage of his convictions."

LeMieux said he wouldn't "say anything bad about my friend the governor," but he then proceeded to explain that Rubio was needed in the U.S. Senate because he is a "principled conservative."

"Marco is a principled conservative and I have been there and I have seen what it takes, we cannot have people who are going to just go along and get along,'' LeMieux said. (This of course echoes one of the constant criticisms of Crist, which is that he changes his policy positions based on the prevailing mood of the moment.)

LeMieux then added this about Rubio: "He will be a great senator and he will not only be a solid conservative vote but he will be a solid conservative idea person."

LeMieux's statements are even more interesting given what Rubio said about him some 10 months ago:

"This is a disappointing appointment for Florida,'' Rubio said in a statement. "George LeMieux is a talented political operative and the governor’s best friend, but that doesn’t make him the right choice to represent Florida in the Senate."

So then what did Rubio say about LeMieux at a Tampa breakfast earlier this month with the GOP faithful?

"He has done more in the last 9 months in the U.S. Senate that some people do in six years,'' Rubio told the GOP faithful.

Rubio added that he was "grateful for his service."

Comments

[stuntmanmike]

Party hacks in bed together.