[Update: Like many others, I feel slightly misled by the released endorsement, which is NOT by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, but by his son, Jeb Bush, Jr. It’s a bad move by the Rubio campaign to put out something which appears to be designed to be misunderstood as an endorsement by the former governor. Keep that in mind when reading my note below, as I’d rather simply have the context than delete the note entirely – its basic premise remains intact regarding GOP unity.]

Two weeks ago, I sent a letter to the editor of the Miami Herald in which I answered their rhetorical question “Is the GOP united behind Charlie Crist” with am emphatic “absolutely not.”

I’m pleased to note that the biggest name in Florida politics, Jeb Bush, has proven me right. Former Governor Bush endorsed Rubio on Wednesday:

Today I would like to let you know that I will be enthusiastically supporting my friend Marco Rubio for his bid for the United States Senate.

Florida and our country are at a crossroads. Not only in our economic life, but in who we are as Republicans.

My choice was a simple one: Marco Rubio represents the best in what our Party should strive to be and who it must engage – he is young, conservative, and believes in the principles of our Founding Fathers, that individual freedom and liberty are what makes our country great and always will.

Marco Rubio is a candidate who can help to bring our Party back on track by reaching out to our youth, entrepreneurs, Hispanics and those who believe that if you work hard enough, anything you dream can be achieved. With Marco, we have a great opportunity to elect a true conservative and a greater obligation to elect a man of principle.

I hope that you will join with me in this exciting journey to elect my friend Marco Rubio to the United States Senate in 2010. If you can make a donation today to keep this effort going it will go a long way to bring back common sense and a return to conservative principles in Washington.

I thank you for your time and consideration.

With warm regards,

Jeb Bush, Jr.

This took some courage for Mr. Bush, after the ill-advised endorsement of Charlie Crist by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Crist is a pale, skinny American version of Arnold Schwarzenegger. It’s true that he’d have a somewhat easier time winning the general election than Mr. Rubio might, but as I said repeatedly about John McCain’s presidential candidacy, if that’s winning, then we’ve already lost.

Crist has drunk the kool-aid on “climate change” and supported the “stimulus bill". If you don’t like the comparison with the Governator, then how about a comparison with Arlen Specter? Does that suit you better if you’re a Republican voter? I think not. Well, it depends whether you cast your vote based on party or principal. And those who cast their votes based purely on party need to realize that it’s people like them, giving the GOP some reason to believe they might win without standing for important principles, who are causing the GOP both to abandon principle and to lose elections.

The GOP can only become relevant again by standing for principles of liberty and limited government (and with only a smaller and de-emphasized socially conservative agenda.) Although I know little about Rubio, what I have read about him and what he’s said in his own words on his campaign site’s YouTube video was more than enough to convince me in a matter of seconds that he’s a vast improvement over the RINO Charlie Crist…and I don’t care whether a Rubio primary victory, as unlikely as that seems today, would give the Democrats a somewhat better chance at a general election victory.

In case you missed it:

Supporting principle over blind party loyalty or fealty to the guy most likely to win the general election if that guy is a Republican In Name Only is the only way to get the return of a GOP that matters which is, in turn, the only way to get the return of a half-decent government.

It’s fantastic to see a politician as important as Jeb Bush endorse a principled underdog at real political risk to himself. Not just because he’s supporting principle, but also because he’s proving to entrenched politicos in DC and elsewhere that the GOP is indeed NOT united – and though possibly painful, electorally speaking in the short run, it’s the best thing that can happen for both the party and the country in the long-run.