Buffeted by weeks of negative press and a newly threatening rival from the right, FL Gov. Charlie Crist's (R) campaign will step up direct engagements with his opponent, insiders tell OnCall.
Crist will attack former FL House Speaker Marco Rubio (R), citing his rival's failure to advance some conservative causes while leading the state House, for spending excessively while in the Speaker's office and for dragging his feet on immigration legislation that many Republicans favored.
"We're now running a campaign, and it's one where this campaign will aggressively talk about the governor and his record and his vision heading to Washington as a candidate for the Senate, and we will aggressively talk to voters about our opponent's record, a record that was eight years in the state legislature, a record that has not been discussed to date," said Eric Eikenberg, Crist's new campaign manager.
"Over the last five to six months, the governor has been focused on governing and our opponent's been running around the state because he doesn't have an office," Eikenberg said.
Meanwhile, Rubio "has had five to six months of the ability to go around and say whatever he'd like, and that's now changing."
http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2009/11/crist_to_engage.php