Coming out of the closet and admitting who he really is has made Gov. Charlie Crist more popular. According to a new Rasmussen Reports survey, the formerly Republican Crist, who recently outed himself as a moderate independent, is polling well.

Crist [is] earning 38% support to Republican Marco Rubio’s 34% and Democrat Kendrick Meek’s 17%. Eleven percent (11%) are undecided.

Two weeks ago, before Crist announced his decision to run as an independent candidate, Rubio held a seven point advantage in the race.

Since then, Crist has gained eight (8) percentage points in the poll while Rubio and Meek have each dropped three (3) points. It remains to be seen if this is a temporary bounce or a lasting change in the race.

The poll has a sloppy +/-4.5 percent margin of error, which is more than it shows Crist’s opponents sliding, but still.

Meanwhile, Charlie’s move has emboldened former state House Speaker Marco Rubio to appeal to the far-right fringe of the far-right fringe that he likes to court. Rubio is featured speaker, along FOX News’ Fred Barnes, at the Florida Family Policy Council’s “Tomorrow in America” fund-raising dinner. The group is the state affiliate of Focus on the Family, from which so much rightwing hate springs. In fact, the evening’s purpose (along with raising buttloads of money) is to honor wingnut Don Wildmon for a lifetime of homophobia and gay-baiting.

Crist’s surge in popularity is also a product of his veto of a Republican-hatched anti-public education bill. The veto restored many Floridians’ faith in their governor, who had come to be seen as putting the state’s government on auto-pilot while he ran for, variously, the office of socialite’s husband, John McCain’s vice presidential pick, and U.S. Senator.

And just as it’s allowing Charlie to be his true moderate self, it’s also setting Rubio free to be the tea-bagging activist who wants to meddle in people’s private lives that he really is. Require people to be covered by health insurance, just like drivers must carry auto insurance? Why, that’s government intrusion! Forbid adults to marry? No problem! As blogger Waymon Hudson said of Rubio’s speaking engagement,

This is who Marco Rubio honors. These are the people he is “palling around with” as he seeks to move to a powerful Senate seat.

Rubio has always been an extremist. He…obviously seeks to continue to court the far-right hate groups that seek to impose their personal biases on the rest of the nation as he seeks a Senate position.

It’s interesing that Rubio is aligning himself with anti-gay groups just as Charlie Crist is coming out…as a moderate. I wonder if Crist will realize that being who you are is the most effective way to square your actions with your beliefs, and that people respond to authenticity. If he does, maybe Charlie will one day be making an even more overdue announcement.

Connect: