Remember the famed “hug” between then-Florida Governor Charlie Crist and President Barack Obama that helped  Marco Rubio win that famed 2010 Senate race?

The “hug” symbolized Crist’s embrace of Obama’s failed 2009 Stimulus Act which fueled the Tea Party movement, allowing candidates like Rubio, Rand Paul, Allen West to prevail in their respective campaigns.

Rubio used that image at nauseum during the campaign, and now his 2016 re-election primary challenger Carlos Beruff is trying stir up the same type of emotion by pushing an old picture of then-Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio and Governor Charlie Crist hugging it out during a press conference in Tallahassee, Florida.

 

First of all, Beruff was a big supporter of Crist during the 2010 election cycle, donation $4,800 before he became an Independent Senate candidate.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune later reported that Beruff attended a Crist fundraiser after he left the Republican Party, but did not donate to the campaign.

Beruff’s promotion of the Rubio-Crist hug is specifically aimed to point out that Rubio and Crist both agreed on just about all of the state legislation passed during Rubio’s stint as Speaker.

While Speaker of the Florida House, Rubio and his GOP legislature balanced the state budget under his watch, a move that is required under Florida law.

But by doing so, Rubio and his fellow Republicans approved budgets signed by Crist that raised college tuitions and led to more state government spending, not to mention increased the state’s debt by over $1 billion.

The big question here is, will this picture of Rubio and Crist will sway enough Republican voters away from Rubio in next month’s primary election?

Probably not.