Marco Rubio is an interesting case. He started calling himself a teabagger sometime in the last year or so, but he’s hardly a political outsider. He’s spent most of his adult life in the Florida Republican party and has all of the normal weaselly traits of a career politician, using his political connections to enrich himself. He was the Speaker of the Florida House for two years before beginning his latest power grab. I’m sure he’s planning to be the first Latino/Cuban PotUS.
He did screw up the establishment balance by making his move for the Senate, though, and Crist would have probably won had Rubio not entered the race. Rubio could have then grabbed Nelson’s seat when he retires. Rubio is a shrewd political player and nothing like some of the others mentioned here who got in way over their heads.
I went back and found this Slate article on Rubio from late May, 2009 and although Rubio had already decided to challenge Crist at that point, it was seen more as hard-right conservative versus moderate at that time, and there is no mention of Rubio and Tea Party in the same breath.
Rubio has been branding himself as a “fresh ideas” Republican for a while now. It will be interesting to see if he sticks to that or leads the inevitable attacks against Obama instead.
It’s been claimed that liberals and Democrats are particularly opposed to minority conservatives, even more than they are to white conservatives, because they fear the impact that these might have as role models in the minority community. Past examples would include Clarence Thomas and Miguel Espada. It’s been suggested that the intensity of opposition to Rubio is based on this fear.
Has it been “claimed” and “suggested”? By anyone in particular besides you?
The obejctions to Clarence Thomas had a lot more to do with his jurisprudence record (which was not particularly strong for a Supreme Court candidate) and the whole Anita Hill mess. The only objections to Rubio I’ve heard anywhere were on political grounds; he was a right-wing candidate who unseated a more moderate Republican liked by (some) Democrats. I don’t know enough about Espada to comment.
But as it happens, it has been suggested by a lot of others. One example, from the WSJ
[I happen to think they’re right to worry, BTW, and unless Rubio messes up, there’s a very good chance he’s on the ticket as VP nominee in 2012. Not just a Hispanic guy, but from a major swing state too (& better looking than Christie :)).]
Well of course the party line is not going to be “we particularly oppose him because he might hurt us politically”.
It’s fair to say that liberals are particularly sceptical of minority conservatives. In part, that’s because many of them are batshit insane, like Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
Rubio is not crazy at all, but he is a reactionary. I doubt anyone is more opposed to him than, say, Jim DeMint, however - except other Florida Hispanics, who largely despise him.
Don’t bet on it. Obama was supposedly too inexperienced to be President, and in 2012 Rubio will have the same amount of experience.
Then I would prefer that you had avoided that particular phrasing. Having heard the “people are saying” thing used in less honest circumstances in the past, it does make a difference who is saying what and why.
Or Alan Keyes.
I thought the Floridian Cuban population trended conservative (with a small c) as they tended to prefer the right-wing “no compromise with Castro” approach. Or at least the older generation; the younger ones may be more liberal.
Do you have a cite for that or were you just making a joke? I tried looking up his “100 ideas” but won’t buy the book just to see what they all are. Most seemed actually pretty mild or some of the same (lower taxes). What I have seen on it seemed that they intentionally stayed away from most social issues.
His stated positions are pretty much universally anti-gay and -abortion, and he proposed several measures in the state legislature to reintroduce prayer in Florida schools (though I can’t find any of them at the moment).
His book was technically about other people’s ideas - he did a tour of the state asking people what they thought, and condensed it into 100 Things To Do.
I haven’t read the book, and don’t plan to, so I’m not sure how much of it was actually other people’s ideas and how much was stuff he wants to pretend someone else came up with.
Not really much of a difference either way. Again, he can have “ideas” but if they’re unpopular he can say “Hey, it wasn’t me, it was some guy in Tallahassee”. As a true patriot I thought he should be heard.