Intra-party faceoff in Florida

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s (R) announcement today that he’ll run for Senate was no doubt relief to many national Republicans who didn’t look forward to a grueling, expensive general election battle in one of the most politically contentious states in the country. Of course, that’s why the NRSC is already lining up behind Crist.

But there’s also irony in the NRSC endorsement. Just weeks after the party wished “good riddance” to Arlen Specter, they’re lining up behind a moderate who, like Specter, supported President Obama’s stimulus package. In fact, Crist supported it even more strongly than Specter, campaigning for the package alongside the president.

What makes this even more interesting is that conservatives have a candidate they’re fairly excited about–state House Speaker Marco Rubio. Rubio has already expressed his willingness to fight on, releasing a video today hitting Crist for embracing Obama. (See below).

As of yet, support for Rubio is limited to conservative circles. Recent polls show Crist crushing him in a primary. That may change as Rubio’s name ID grows, however.

Conservative activists are already expressing their disappointment with Crist and the NRSC. Blogs like RedState despise him, and the Club for Growth has indicated they’ll support Rubio. (Though, notably, they haven’t committed any funds yet.)

“[Rubio’s] fiscally responsible, pro-growth approach in the State Capitol stands in stark contrast with other elements of the state government, led by Charlie Crist,” Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said in a statement after Rubio announced.

Bottom line–Crist is the heavy favorite, and if he makes it through the primary, he has a good shot at holding the seat for Republicans. But in a season of conservative discontent, it’ll be interesting to see how much noise activists make about Crist’s past heresies.