What does this Rubio PAC ad mean?

[Drum_God]

I’ve searched YouTube and I can’t find the ad, but Conservative Solutions PAC has a pro-Rubio ad in heavy circulation in the Austin market. It starts of saying that there is only one Republican that the Democrats are truly afraid of, and that’s Marco Rubio. Okay. Whatever. Political hyperbole is part of the fun.

But I don’t understand the next statement. In claiming how Rubio is THE guy for President, the voiceover intones that Rubio “outsmarted the Democrats on Obamacare.”

Huh?

While Rubio was Senator, the PPACA passed and became law. Seems like Rubio got outsmarted, since, as should be obvious even to the CS PAC crowd, his side LOST!

Does anyone know what on Earth this ad means? How, even in partisan hyperbole, did Rubio outsmart the Democrats? I’m not convinced Rubio could outsmart a wet sack, but whatever.

[Procrustus]

I believe it has to do with this

A little-noticed health care provision slipped into a giant spending law last year has tangled up the Obama administration, sent tremors through health insurance markets and rattled confidence in the durability of President Obama’s signature health law.

The attack stems from two years of effort by Senator Marco Rubio and others in Congress to undermine a key financing mechanism in the law. So for all the Republican talk about dismantling the Affordable Care Act, one Republican presidential hopeful has actually done something toward achieving that goal.

[adaher]

There’s no doubt that Rubio is a good legislator. He managed to become Speaker of the Florida House. If his Presidential ambitions don’t go anywhere and he doesn’t continue working towards that goal by becoming governor of Florida, Senate Majority Leader is where he’s very likely to end up.

But yeah, he’s worked hard to dismantle the risk corridors, and it’s good politics too. Only people who are really into the weeds of health care policy understand why health insurer bailouts are essential to the functioning of the law. To everyone else, it’s just insurer bailouts.

[Measure_for_Measure]

Rubio announced last year that he’s not running for re-election to the Senate, a seat he took in 2010. He says he hates it. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2015/10/25/28cfaff0-6d59-11e5-9bfe-e59f5e244f92_story.html

His seat is currently rated a tossup.
http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/2016-senate/

[adaher]

I know, but it’s not unusual for Senators to leave and then come back. I can’t imagine Rubio is done with politics after the 2016 race. I think his decision was motivated by the odds that even if he didn’t win the nomination that he would be a frontrunner for the VP nod.

But assuming none of those things happen, there’s a governor’s race in 2018, as well as Bill Nelson running for reelection in the Senate. The man’s got choices. Governor is probably what he’ll do, since that’s normally a better platform for the Presidency and it’s easier to win an open seat then to face a popular incumbent like Nelson. Assuming Nelson doesn’t retire, he will be 75 after all.