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Is Rubio hinting at an independent Senate run? A spokesman says no

Posted Aug 3, 2009 by William March

Updated Aug 3, 2009 at 03:24 PM

Would Marco Rubio consider running for the U.S. Senate as an independent if he loses the Republican nomination to Gov. Charlie Crist?

Rubio dropped what sounded like a hint of that at a gathering of conservative political bloggers in Atlanta Saturday, although a campaign spokesman said that’s not what he meant.

He told the crowd about his long history as a GOP activist and officeholder, culminating in his post as state House speaker—a part of his standard stump speech.

But he went on to add that he would never have imagined that he would be “an insurgent” within the party as he is now. He said the party is “the natural home” for his movement, but “not the inevitable home.”

Crist is a distant frontrunner against Rubio in the Senate primary, and most people would bet Crist would easily beat the likely Democratic nominee, Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami.

But Rubio as an independent candidate on the general election ballot beside Crist and Meek could change the picture, siphoning conservative votes away from Crist, possibly making Meek competitive.

Here are Rubio’s comments in the speech Saturday to the RedState gathering, a group of people involved with RedState.com conservative political blog:

“I never in my life imagined I would have to run an insurgent campaign as a conservative. I never realized that conservatives would become insurgents in the Republican Party. …

“The Republican Party is the natural home for this movement but it is not the inevitable home for this movement. That’s the message to my fellow Reps. It is the natural home for it, it is the logical home for it and it can be the voice for this movement. But it can’t just be a vehicle by which you raise money to win elections.”

Check here for a video.

Asked what Rubio meant, spokesman Alex Burgos replied, “Marco Rubio is a Republican through and through. He has said repeatedly throughout this campaign that, while he intends to win the GOP primary, he will support whoever the Republican nominee is in the general election.”

At least some in the audience, however, took it as a hint of independent action.

RedState blogger Erick Erickson called the comment “one of the valuable points Marco Rubio made,” and added that the party “is not the inevitable home of conservatives. If the GOP does not clean up its act and turn back from the path it has been on, conservatives will leave.”