Sen. Marco Rubio decision to seek re-election is opening him up to criticism that he has become something he once despised: a Washington insider coddled by party leaders.
Mr. Rubio, in a dramatic reversal, announced Wednesday that he would defend his Senate seat after three of his possible GOP primary rivals made clear they would step aside if he entered the race, and after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and other top Republicans urged him to run again.
Businessman Carlos Beruff, though, has vowed to stay in the race, along with Todd Wilcox, a former CIA operative.
Mr. Beruff has fired off emails criticizing Mr. Rubio’s change of heart, suggesting Thursday that the Florida senator is cut from the same cloth as former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, the Republican-turned-Democrat who Mr. Rubio defeated six years ago.
“Running for Senate in 2010, Marco Rubio decried the influence of the Washington power brokers,” the Beruff campaign said in another attack Thursday. “But after six years of not doing his job in Washington, it appears that Marco Rubio has become what he once campaigned against — a moderate Republican insider, controlled by the establishment, who has lost touch with Florida values.”
The email shows a person resembling Mr. Rubio looking into a mirror image of a smiling Mr. Crist.
It also recycled footage from 2009 in which Mr. Rubio responds to a question about how Mr. Crist received the endorsement from Mr. Cornyn, then the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm for Senate Republicans, during the primary battle.
“Some Republican party leaders have endorsed him, but the party doesn’t belong to them,” Mr. Rubio said at the time, sparking applause from the crowd.
Mr. Cornyn, the majority whip, recently said “it would be good for the party” if Mr. Rubio ran.
The deadline to file for the race is Friday.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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