TROUBLE FOR GOP STALWARTS - AT 10:26 A.M. ET:  John McCain and Governor Charlie Crist of Florida are two popular office holders who will stand for election again next year - McCain for reelection to the Senate, and Crist for election to the Senate seat currently held by retiring Senator Mel Martinez, another Republican.  Yet both men are having problems within their own parties.  Rasmussen reports on McCain:

Arizona Republican voters don’t see Senator John McCain having much trouble winning the GOP Senate Primary next year, but 50% believe he has lost touch with his party’s base. Conservatives are even more critical of the longtime incumbent.

Forty-three percent (43%) of Arizona Republican voters offer a more positive assessment and say McCain has done a good job representing GOP values, according to a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state.

And The Politico reports on Crist:

The expected announcement Tuesday by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist that he’s running for the Senate would seem to be a rare bit of good news for beleaguered Republicans.

But while Crist is a brand-name recruit with sky-high approval ratings and bipartisan appeal, his path to keeping the seat of retiring Sen. Mel Martinez in GOP hands has at least one significant roadblock: Sunshine State conservatives.

Despite Crist’s widespread popularity, he faces a primary in which he will have to make his case to a restless GOP base dissatisfied with his high-profile advocacy for President Barack Obama’s stimulus and his handling of the state’s budget woes.

COMMENT:  McCain is odds-on favorite to win any primary challenge and win reelection.  But Crist will have to fight to win his primary and keep the Martinez Senate seat in GOP hands.  The Politico reports that Crist's predecessor in the governor's chair, Jeb Bush, is cool to Crist and may help his primary opponent.  The party does not need splits like this.

May 12, 2009