Rubio fights back ... by asking for more money

Marco Rubio this morning woke up to perhaps the bleakest moment of his insurgent campaign for the U.S. Senate --- a newspaper report that he used an American Express card provided by the Republican Party of Florida to pay for personal expenses, including a $133.75 haircut.

Rubio, it appears, never left home without it.

The money Rubio spent wasn't taxpayers' dollars. But as a political entity, contributions to the RPOF, which were used to pay its credit card bills, are supposed to be used only to help Republicans get elected, not to look good or for other personal expenses.

But adhering to the notion that in politics you never let a good crisis go to waste, Rubio is fighting back by asking supporters to dig into their wallets to help fight off a "smear" attack orchestrated by none other than his rival for the GOP Senate nomination, Gov. Charlie Crist.

"Have you had enough of these desperate smears against Marco?" an e-mail from the Rubio campaign states. "If so, here’s what you can do: Send Charlie Crist a signal that you're not going to let him get away with it. Help Marco fight the smears. Donate today and help Marco fight back."

And yes, you can charge it.

For its part, the Crist campaign, which is as much as 18 points down in the polls, is relishing the chance to go on the offensive against Rubio.

“A clear pattern is emerging in Speaker Rubio’s unfortunate behavior," the Crist campaign said in a statement. "The lobbyist-politician whines and plays the victim while continuing to make every effort to hide the facts surrounding his personal financial gain while in office."

--- Marc R. Masferrer