Via Politico(Weeklystandard).Last Tuesday, Republican Marco Rubio, former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, announced a bid for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez. At 37, Rubio, a fresh-faced charismatic Cuban American and Jeb Bush protégé, would seem to be the perfect recruit for statewide office. But a big obstacle stands between him and the GOP nomination: Charlie Crist, the state's popular, moderate, one-term governor, who is expected to announce his own run for the Senate seat very soon.When Republicans in Florida get to know Rubio, they will discover a dynamic speaker with an appealing biography and a deeply held conservative philosophy.
In some respects, Rubio is a little like another state legislator who ran for the U.S. Senate, Barack Obama. Like the president, Rubio points to his biography as a testament to the American dream. The son of Cuban immigrants who fled Castro's regime, Rubio grew up in a working-class home--his father was a bartender and his mother a factory worker,
casino maid, and Kmart stock clerk. He spent a year at Tarkio College in Missouri on a football scholarship before transferring to earn his bachelor's degree at the University of Florida and his law degree at the University of Miami. He married his longtime girlfriend Jeannette, once a Miami Dolphins cheerleader and now the mother of their four young children. Raised and confirmed a Catholic, Rubio worships with his family at an evangelical church.
Rubio rose rapidly in politics. Elected to the state house in 2000, he served as majority whip and majority leader before being named speaker for the 2007 and 2008 legislative sessions. He recently retired, as required by term-limits.
Like Obama, Rubio can thrill an audience. On April 13, he addressed the College Republicans and Students for a Free Cuba at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Cuba, he said, presents us with "an opportunity just 90 miles off our shores to defend and stand up for the constitutional and Founding principles of this country."
It's not only young Republicans who respond to Rubio. "You had the immediate impression that he would be a rising star," says Bob Sanchez, a former editorial board member of the Miami Herald, recalling Rubio's pitch for the paper's endorsement back in 1998 in a race for city commissioner. "He had a good philosophy and was able to express it. It's like when one of these people on American Idol really can sing, all of a sudden you really think, 'Wow, he was very impressive.'
Marco announcing he's running for the Senate in '10:
1 comment:
Thanks for the heads up. The guy is very sincere and motivated. He's got the joy and energy of youth but very mature thinking style. Kind of Romney-like! Check out his youtube videos to see what I mean. I wouldn't be surprised if he beats phoney-baloney Crist in the primary and goes on to the Senate. Then runs for vp with Mitt! Wow!
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