Posted on 06/03/2016 3:39:59 AM PDT by onyx
Sen. Marco Rubio
is coming under heavy pressure inside and outside the Beltway to change his mind and run for reelection to the Senate.
For Senate GOP leaders, the move is a political no-brainer.
For Rubio the question is tougher.
Running for the Senate would amount to a significant political u-turn. He’s repeatedly railed against the ineffectiveness of the upper chamber and brushed aside questions about his lax attendance record.
He could also be risking his political future on a Senate race that Democrats view as a prime pickup opportunity and is widely rated a toss up.
Rubio is expected to make another run for the White House a soon as 2020, and a loss in November could undercut any future presidential aspirations.
He would also face a fight from within his own party to retain his seat. There are currently five GOP candidates vying to replace Rubio, including Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, who the Florida senator has repeatedly described as a “close friend.”
Democrats also face a primary. Rep. Patrick Murphy is backed by the Democratic establishment, while Rep. Alan Grayson is challenging him from the left.
Michael McDonald, a professor at the University of Florida who studies voter participation, said that Rubio might be the best GOP candidate. But a victory by the former presidential candidate would be no sure thing in an election with Donald Trump
at the top of the GOP ticket.
“I would expect that it would be a close election. I don’t think he’s a shoo-in to win,” Mcdonald said.
Rubio’s decision has huge implications for both parties.
The GOP faces a tough task in keeping its majority as the party defends 24 seats across the country. Democrats need to gain just four seats and retain the White House to win back the Senate majority, and several GOP seats are seen as toss-ups.
Rubio has sidestepped questions about what he would do if Lopez-Cantera dropped out of the race, something the Florida official has shown no signs of considering.
Courtney Alexander, a spokeswoman for the Lopez-Cantera campaign, pointed to a recent Heatstreet article about Rubio doing a fundraising call with the lieutenant governor. Two sources told the website that “Rubio was on the call to make it clear that he was not running for reelection” and to raise financial support for Lopez-Cantera.
Democrats are taking early shots at Rubio amid the speculation.
“Republicans may be publicly begging Marco Rubio to run for re-election and to save them from the “nightmare” cast of candidates they currently have, but if Rubio even were to run, his prospects in November – that is if he can make it past the primary – don’t look too promising,” the DSCC said in a statement.
That hasn’t stopped GOP leadership and strategists from vocally nudging Rubio to change his mind. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
(R-Ky.) acknowledged he and his Senate GOP colleagues have been privately pressuring Rubio to run for reelection.
“We’re all hoping that he’ll reconsider, because poll data indicates that he is the one who can win for us,” he told Hugh Hewitt this week.
Maybe the man should get a real job off the government teat
Unthinkable I know
I agree!
He’s likely worn out his welcome.
What is he going to do? Who is going to vote for him if he runs for office is a better question. His support was from conservative and they know who he is now. Gang of 8 will be his political epitaph.
He’s more conservative than 90% of the Senate.
We should hope he runs again. Same with Cruz.
I want Graham to leave.
Rubio should open a Taco stand on the border.
He could give away a free soccer ball or teddy bear with the purchase
of a Family value pack of Taco’s.
Rubio stated publicly that he didn’t like this job, which is why he didn’t “go to work” very often.
He doesn’t like being a Senator.
When I heard this, I wondered, why would he run for President? What would he have done if he “didn’t like” that job? Not go to work?
The BEST THING for the country and particularly the Republican Party is for Rubio to HANG IT UP and start a law practice in Ocala - even if it means losing his Florida seat for Republicans. His FLAT OUT LYING to Americans is something that should never be forgotten or forgiven.
In the past, I did want to cut him some slack - tell him to spend 12 years in the Senate and try to rehabilitate himself, but as I’ve learned more about him, particularly the fact that he was doing this crap from the first day he entered politics (at much lower levels), and also the way he’s able to put a spell over other Republicans (think Rush, but also think of the Republicans that joined him on the Gang-of-Eight), he simply is too dangerous for our side to keep around.
And I’m sure there’s plenty of legal work for him in Ocala.
Ron DeSantis is the Conservative. Bubbles Roofio is a liar, establishment flunkie, and open borders fraud.
Rubio is expected to make another run for the White House a soon as 2020
*******************************
Children of foreign nationals are NOT natural born citizens.
“He’s more conservative than 90% of the Senate.”
I guess if you consider his position on the Medicare Part D reimbursement level equal to him leading the effort to LEGALIZE 30 MILLION NEW DEMOCRATS, that may be the case - but I put this country’s survival (in its current form) ahead of all other issues combined, and he failed that, big time.
Marco Rubio has only ever had one cause in his life; one overarching, all-consuming goal.
Amnesty. Amnesty. And then more amnesty.
Actually, rather than wasting our time trying to figure out if he’s running again, it’s much more likely that HE ALWAYS PLANNED ON RUNNING AGAIN if he didn’t win the nomination.
Consider his near-perfect record of LYING TO REPUBLICAN VOTERS...nothing he promises has any meaning, and so his claim to not be running again was almost certainly a scam to try to add credibility to his campaign for president - knowing full-well that he would fall back on running for Senate.
What he’s doing now is simply going through the motions. No different than when President Obama first came out against gay marriage, then started saying that he was ‘reconsidering his position’, and now, of course, is all-in. Rubio’s doing the same - trying to make it look like a tough decision, and that he’s thinking really hard about it (could go either way) - but his mind was made up two years ago.
Like Obama, this is AN ACT by Rubio to once-again, trick Republican voters.
Start by releasing all his delegates to trump - like now.
Sure- that’s why McConnell wants him to run.
Ruuuuuuuuuuubeeeeeeeeoooooooooooooooo.............
.......will bring THEM ALL in from Mehhicckoooo.
Thanks!
“Ron DeSantis, a soldier supporting veterans, promoting economic growth and defending the Constitution in Florida. U.S. Senate 2016.”
https://www.desantis2016.com/ (I can’t seem to get this to load)
https://www.facebook.com/RepDeSantis/
https://twitter.com/repdesantis
https://www.youtube.com/user/RepRonDeSantis
I do not give a damn what this LIAR does, I am just glad he will soon not be one of my two senators.
Every RINO has been exposed as a liar who promised
one thing and then delivered continuing-ObamaCARE,
plus new ObamaTRADE, and treasonous IRANnukes,
while continuing to fund and coverup
every crime, Quartering, and border opening,
unimaginable only ten years ago.
Who cares?
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