K-Lo, I should emphasize again that Rubio controls his own destiny more than either Crist or Meek. I think it is Rubio’s election to lose — but the combination of Crist’s name recognition (which cuts both ways to be sure), Meek’s lack of name recognition, and the fact that Rubio had coasted through the post-Crist portion of the Republican primary had given Crist a little cushion in the polls through July and early August.
Things are different now. Meek has emerged as the first choice for Democrats, which is bad, bad news for Crist, who needs to pull a bunch of them to have a credible shot. Meanwhile, we’re going to see and hear a lot more of Rubio, which can only be good for Rubio.
Everyone knows (even Boehner admitted) that this race is at least 80 percent about the Democrats in Congress and the president. The real wildcard, so far as I can see, is that Floridians now have two choices to vote against Dems — one of whom is free to take any old position that he thinks will bring him the slightest short-term political advantage. That makes this race tough to call.
As for the Senator Graham II stuff, I can’t back off! Strong majorities are inevitably coalitional. You can’t, realistically, have 60 Jim DeMints. So — and here I’m going to employ the classic Reductio ad Reaganum — we have to remember that “The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor.”