Reported by Stephanie Coueignoux 

LAKE MARY -- Both Gov. Charlie Crist and former House Speaker Marco Rubio were in Central Florida Tuesday night. 

They're both running for Florida's Senate seat next year, and their race has captured the nation's attention.

Many Republican supporters seem to now be shifting their support from more moderate Republican candidates to those with more conservative values.

Crist and Rubio had very different answers as to why the shift is occurring.

Crist said he really doesn't feel any pressure from the Republican Party to embrace more conservative values.

"I don't think so. What the people want is someone who works hard for them. That's what they really want. They want to make sure it is someone who will spend wisely, that understand these are challenging times and spends less and works harder and that's what we're doing here in Florida," Crist said.

Rubio was very willing to talk about the shift back to conservatism.  He believes that shift will carry him ultimately to victory.

"Do they want this party to be an alternative to the Democrats or do they want it to be more like the Democrats which is what Charlie Crist is?  I think the majority wants us to be an alternative,” Rubio said.

Rubio launched a fundraising Web site Tuesday called CharlieandObama.com. The main picture on the Web site is of Crist shaking hands with Obama.

In response to the recent criticism, Crist said people can write what they want.  He said he's just going to focus on his job, which is to govern the people of Florida.

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