The Great RINO Hunt of 2010

MIAMI(CBS4) -- A new poll has found that Florida Governor Charlie Crist's campaign for the U.S. Senate is currently in deep trouble. The new Rasmussen poll of likely GOP voters found Crist and his Republican opponent, Marco Rubio, are tied with 43 percent of the vote. This is a huge swing from just a few months ago when most experts believed Crist would win in a landslide.

While Crist's numbers have been in an almost free fall, Rubio's name recognition amongst Republicans has rapidly grown. The new poll found 34 percent of GOP voters now view Rubio "very favorably." In the same poll in August, Rubio's "very favorable" ratings were at 18 percent.

On the flip side, Crist's numbers have fallen off a cliff. Only 19 percent of likely GOP voters have a "very favorable" opinion of the governor. According to Rasmussen, that's a double-digit decline since August.

The big story in next years elections will be less about how many seats Republicans win than about what kind of Republicans win them.

The rank and file of the Republican party has had it up to here with RINOs and isn't going to take it any more.

Look for next year to be a blood purge of Republicans in name only as the conservative base of the party rises up and retakes control of the GOP.