# Rubio Isn't The Front Runner, But Everyone Else Is Acting Like He Is **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 7, 2016, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460 "2016-02-07T20:38:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/41 "2016-02-08T19:11:01Z")
> [@YogSothoth](#): > > I like this one but I was envisioning one of those wind-up dolls that you turn and then set on the floor and it walks. The last shot of the commercial should be the doll on its side, feet moving but going nowhere, stuck like a broken record repeating “-doesn’t know what he’s doing” “Is he live…Or is he Memorex?” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/42 "2016-02-08T21:43:05Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Like comparing Mussolini to Hitler: Mussolini was the moderate. Which reminds me of [this xkcd](https://xkcd.com/261/). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/43 "2016-02-08T21:44:52Z")
> [@bump](#): > > From what I can tell, having a lot of pretty right-wing friends and acquaintances, they’re tarring her with the Bill Clinton brush; they hated him for being slick and dishonest, and they’re either assuming she’s the same way, as she’s his wife and embroiled in some scandals concerning honesty, or they’re judging her for staying with him after his scandals. > > Either way, nothing she does is going to convince them otherwise- she’s tainted by virtue of association. Oh, sure. But if she’s averaging 42-53 fav/unfav, then an important chunk of that 53% isn’t wingnuts (if that weren’t true, I’d have already emigrated to Canada, thanks), and they are persuadable. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/44 "2016-02-08T22:03:07Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Rubio’s campaign was touting a “3-2-1” strategy where they’d come in 3rd in Iowa, 2nd in New Hampshire and 1st in S. Carolina, riding each wave of success to get better standing. They managed to pull off their 3rd in Iowa and, sure enough, were polling 2nd in NH. The disaster comes if they drop to 3rd now or – heavens forbid – 4th and let another establishment guy take the 3rd place slot. > > But if Rubio can stay in 2nd place, he’s still where he wanted to be. The plan was never really to close the massive gap between himself and Trump in New Hampshire. Well, he was where he _said_ he wanted to be. It strikes me as more wishful thinking than anything else. I’d expect SC to be more Trump v. Cruz territory, with the Establishment candidates hoping for second place at best. And again, while there’s always a first time for everything, in all the years that Iowa and NH have led off, nobody’s won the GOP nomination without winning at least one of those two. (Or the Dem nomination either, except for the year everyone skipped Iowa.) 3-2-1 is a nice idea to snow the donors with, but it flies in the face of 40 years of history. Not to mention, there’s really no reason to think that if Rubio were a viable candidate, he could have used his bounce from Iowa to finish first in NH, which has known last-minute swings much larger than what it would take for Rubio to finish first. (If it hadn’t been for Rubio doing his Mister Rubotto number the other night, I’d still be worried that he’d pull out NH. I’m a lot less worried about it now.) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/45 "2016-02-08T22:56:41Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Oh, sure. But if she’s averaging 42-53 fav/unfav, then an important chunk of that 53% isn’t wingnuts (if that weren’t true, I’d have already emigrated to Canada, thanks), and they are persuadable. Hey, we have wing nuts too, you know! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/46 "2016-02-08T23:04:11Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Hey, we have wing nuts too, you know! 😃 At least yours are polite by comparison to ours. [Well, most of them.](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Stephen_Harper) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/47 "2016-02-09T02:20:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Onomatopoeia** : > > The classic “there’s no there there” comes to mind whenever I think of Rubio. I don’t know what anyone sees in him. And that’s exactly what people see in him. You know how, whenever a poll puts a real person up head-to-head against “Generic Republican” (or “Generic Democrat”, for that matter), “Generic Republican” always wins? Well, Rubio is Generic Republican. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/48 "2016-02-09T02:24:01Z")
Just don’t ask to see his bar code . . . ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/49 "2016-02-09T13:02:34Z")
Vox had two good articles on Rubio, one about just how formidable he can be when he’s on script, and another about how Christie’s attack was really, really damaging. I think it’s great. I wish Hillary had been willing to go after Obama more on how protected he was as a candidate, but I guess she’s not the one to deliver that message since she’s also such a creature of her staff. One of the differences though is that Clinton and Obama can handle themselves without a script. They adhere to their scripts because they are cautious, not exactly freewheelers like Christie or Bernie Sanders. But they CAN go off script if they are put on the spot(well, Clinton gets herself into trouble sometimes, actually), and Rubio simply can’t. I’m not too worried about Rubio vs. Clinton, because she has a similar weakness and she was reluctant to go there with Obama, so presumably will be reluctant to go there with Rubio. It’s Rubio vs. Sanders that worries me. Sanders has been reluctant to go hard after Clinton, but I think he’ll take the gloves off in a general election and rip Rubio to shreds. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/50 "2016-02-09T13:46:26Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Vox had two good articles on Rubio, one about just how formidable he can be when he’s on script, and another about how Christie’s attack was really, really damaging. I think it’s great. I wish Hillary had been willing to go after Obama more on how protected he was as a candidate, but I guess she’s not the one to deliver that message since she’s also such a creature of her staff. Obama’s abundantly demonstrated (far more than you suggest elsewhere in your post) his ability to both think on his feet, and - I would add - think deeply about the issues confronting our nation. And your assertion that Obama was ‘protected’ as a candidate - this is the first time I’ve ever heard such a claim. I can only assume it’s just now come into circulation somewhere in order to make Domo Arigato Marco Robotto, who really _does_ need protecting, look not quite so bad by comparison. Hillary didn’t have a script for many hours at the _Benghazi!_ hearing, and as you may have heard, she came out looking a hell of a lot better than her inquisitors. And as candidate and President, Obama participated in numerous debates and press conferences. Finally, Obama and Hillary are both _very_ smart people. Rubio plainly isn’t. I’m not the least bit worried about a Hillary v. Rubio debate: unlike Clint Eastwood, Hillary can win a debate against an empty chair - or empty head. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/51 "2016-02-09T15:52:33Z")
[Video of another Marco Ruboto moment.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBX0Z1MkDyQ) ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/52 "2016-02-09T19:21:09Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > The problem is Rubio is a wind-up doll. I don’t think he has a thought or conviction that isn’t fed to him. Putting him in front of a tough questioner could go very wrong for him, unless he simply filibusters the entire interview and deflects just about everything. He might be putting himself out of the running for the vice presidential nomination. I wonder if he can see Cuba from his house. > [@](#): > > I contend that Rubio is simply not very smart, which is why he rarely goes off-script and why he relies so heavily on talking points. Yes, he has a mediocre intellect but so what? My problem is that he is doesn’t have a core set of beliefs outside of his religious beliefs. Almost everything else he believes is based on some shit he heard at an RNC fundraiser. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/53 "2016-02-09T19:39:52Z")
[Democrats have been attending Rubio rallies dressed as robots. Rubio staffers attacked one today and ripped up his robot costume.](http://www.addictinginfo.org/2016/02/09/frustrated-rubio-staffers-attack-robot-protester-photosvideo/) ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/54 "2016-02-09T20:07:24Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Democrats have been attending Rubio rallies dressed as robots. Rubio staffers attacked one today and ripped up his robot costume.](http://www.addictinginfo.org/2016/02/09/frustrated-rubio-staffers-attack-robot-protester-photosvideo/) Obviously they’re burnishing their resumes in preparation for the jump to Trump. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/55 "2016-02-09T20:42:07Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Democrats have been attending Rubio rallies dressed as robots. Rubio staffers attacked one today and ripped up his robot costume.](http://www.addictinginfo.org/2016/02/09/frustrated-rubio-staffers-attack-robot-protester-photosvideo/) [Flight of the Conchords] Robot: “come on sucker, lick my battery!” [/FOTC] 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/56 "2016-02-09T21:27:49Z")
I’m as willing to pile onto Rubio as anyone, but Rubio shouldn’t be singled out. Most of these people have nuthin’ when their script doesn’t cover what they have to deal with. Rubio isn’t special in that regard and I don’t think he’s an intellectual lightweight either. He’s just not ready. But let’s also notice what happens to Hillary when she doesn’t have a scripted answer. “That’s what they were offering!” “What, you mean like with a cloth?” “I support DLs for illegals. Wait, Dodd doesn’t? Oh, I don’t either then.” ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/57 "2016-02-09T21:38:31Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I’m as willing to pile onto Rubio as anyone, but Rubio shouldn’t be singled out. Most of these people have nuthin’ when their script doesn’t cover what they have to deal with. Rubio isn’t special in that regard and I don’t think he’s an intellectual lightweight either. He’s just not ready. The sad thing is that the whole Marco Roboto performance arose out of an attempt to dodge that very issue. One of the common criticisms of Obama is that he just didn’t have enough experience under his belt as a first-term senator. This is not a narrative that suits first-term Senator Rubio; thus, he has attempted to substitute a narrative in which Obama is a mad fiend bent on destroying the world for his own gain. Alas, in his overeagerness he has put the “too green” issue front and center. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/58 "2016-02-09T21:44:49Z")
Yep. He only repeated it so much because it’s important that Obama not seem incompetent, or else why the hell are we considering Rubio? I’ll vote for Rubio if he gets the nomination, I find him promising and hope he’ll grow in the job, but I’m not going to defend the inevitable amateur screwups. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/59 "2016-02-10T00:19:36Z")
Marco Rubio staff assumed [the only three black people](http://www.dailynewsbin.com/news/marco-rubios-staff-harassed-black-attendees-at-rally-under-assumption-they-were-democratic-spies/23783/) at his rally were spies: > [@](#): > > The three African-American women in question turned out to be two students and a professor who were attending the Marco Rubio rally as part of a journalism project. Rubio’s staffers working the event zeroed in on them immediately and informed them that they wouldn’t be allowed to shoot video due to their lack of press credentials. This occurred even as white attendees without credentials were filming the event all around them, including a white student who was part of their class. After the three black attendees were approached and harassed multiple times by Rubio’s people, they decided to leave. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460/60 "2016-02-10T00:41:36Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I’ll vote for Rubio if he gets the nomination, I find him promising and hope he’ll grow in the job, but I’m not going to defend the inevitable amateur screwups. Amateur? Rubio’s been a politician (and presumably, been giving political speeches) for twenty years, almost his entire adult life. How many decades does he need to not be an amateur anymore? Honestly I don’t think his poor delivery will or should really matter to his Prez campaign. But it is kind of weird he hasn’t ironed out his public speaking skills a little better given that he’s been doing it for so long. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubio-isnt-the-front-runner-but-everyone-else-is-acting-like-he-is/745460.md?page=4)