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Stu Rothenberg: Should Charlie Crist roll the dice to save long-shot Senate bid?

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From Stu Rothenberg: In less than a month, we will know whether Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is absolutely committed to running for the Senate this year as a Republican.

Crist, of course, says the matter is closed — that he is in the GOP race to stay. But some observers won’t be convinced until the filing deadline passes at noon on April 30.

They note the governor has launched a full-scale attack on former state Speaker Marco Rubio, and they speculate that he will wait to see what kind of damage he inflicts on Rubio over the next few weeks before deciding on his political course of action — whether it is dropping his Senate bid completely or running as an Independent.

There is plenty of reason for Crist to consider an Independent bid. Polling shows the governor’s standing has plummeted, and he now trails Rubio in every Republican primary poll, sometimes by breathtakingly large margins. Continue here.

Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises and is the publisher of some of Florida’s most influential new media websites, including SaintPetersBlog.com, FloridaPolitics.com, ContextFlorida.com, and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. SaintPetersBlog has for three years running been ranked by the Washington Post as the best state-based blog in Florida. In addition to his publishing efforts, Peter is a political consultant to several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella.

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