Rubio is a busy man
First, he gave a highly-praised defense of Western Civilization at the Acropolis.
Then, he announced more sanctions on the ICC:
In the past, the U.S. has levied sanctions against individual ICC judges and prosecutors, but this time around the warning is for the entire organization itself. And Rubio hinted that Washington may just be getting started.
“We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling their ability to operate against us,” Rubio said in announcing the move. “The United States and the American people are not subject to the jurisdiction of this fake ICC.”
I’m a Rubio fan, and long have been.
He has grown and matured these past few years. I would like him to be the next President. But I am afraid that there would be blood in the water in a fight with JD for the nomination.
I will take Marco over JD also. But an allegiance between the two would be good for America.
I really hope that Rubio runs for president. He’s my #1 choice for 2028, and I think would have a much better chance of winning than Vance.
Marco is looking to be my man
The reason to look askance at Rubio is how he behaved as Speaker of Florida’s House in scuttling some important enforcement bills against illegal immigration, then in running for the U.S. Senate declared that he was against amnesty only then to be the main Repub dupe on the Gang of Eight massive amnesty and immigration-acceleration bill in 2014. The country was saved from that only by the huge upset of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in his Virginia-district primary against the almost unknown Dave Brat, who ran on supporting immigration enforcement — this earthquake, the first time an incumbent House Majority Leader had ever been defeated in a primary — was enough for Speaker John Boehner to decide against bringing up the horrendous Senate-passed bill in the House.
I’m actually enthused about today’s Rubio, who’s behaved impressively, including on immigration matters. But I do vividly remember his history.
Follow up – Kevin Walling, the (former?) Democrat operative who co-hosts Mark Halperin’s show believes that Rubio would win in 2028.
He said something to the effect that Rubio would be asked something about immigration in the debate. He would respond in perfect Spanish, and then the election would be over.
With Trump’s approval in the 30’s and not likely to improve over the next two years, Rubio might be the GOP’s best chance of avoiding President AOC or a similar disaster.
Among us morning dog walkers, there is general agreement that Rubio would be a fine choice for President. However, being a puckish lot, we favor Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for President in 2028. He’s seemingly better at the political infighting that is an important part of the chief executive’s job. We also find it highly amusing that the first openly gay President would be a Republican well-seasoned with MAGA. (But who could be his running mate? How about Tulsi Gabbard? That would be an interesting ticket!)
Not Bessent, surely. He talks big, but there seems to be a paucity of tangible results. I hope the electorate has criteria more important than sexual orientation.
As others have said, I think Rubio has matured significantly in recent years. Or maybe I underestimated him in the past.
Vance has some work to do if he wants to challenge Rubio in ’28. First, he has to find it within himself to repudiate his friend Tucker (Nutcase) Carlson.
It will be fascinating to those watching to see what Trump does. Conventional wisdom says he supports Vance, yet he continues to load Rubio with high profile tasks. Vance better uncover a lot of fraud over the next few years.
I prefer Rubio in ‘28. He is the only man who seems to be able to match Trump’s stamina and results.
What Paul Nachman said.
Everyone wants Vance to disavow Carlson, but what about Rubio?
When will he give a full throated disavowal of his role in the Gang of 8?
The Gang of 8 versus the Judgement of 1?
JD can’t seem choose wisely. He is only choosing his millstone.
I was never a Rubio fan; until he became Sec. of State.
IMHO he is one of the best there ever was in this position.
My concern is that Rubio and JD Vance or ??? will destroy each other if Rubio seeks the presidency. The republicans – and the nation – will be better off if Rubio makes it known that he wishes to maintain his present position as Sec. of State.
I was an optimist when he ran for Senate with Tea Party support, and hopefully made him a campaign contribution. I never regretted that, and my smile just gets wider and wider.
A guy who goes by ‘Asmongold’ is an influences apparently quite popular with young men, just made a video in which he said ‘Marco Rubio is the next president’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OULzT2RBlBE
A few entries for the “Rubio Resume Photo Phile” including a bonus entry recognizing his high approval rating.
https://accordingtohoyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/hujwik3xkaauobi.jpg
An obvious connection to current events.
https://accordingtohoyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/marcorubioplague.jpg
Possibly motivated by the task of hunting down Immigration and Visa fraudsters.
https://accordingtohoyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/723e88a8b44cbc0b10cc6695e5f7f91c94ea8a4b2c071bcd397f50e8c2599226.png
Quote suitable for framing:
https://accordingtohoyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/rubio.png
@Paul Nachman > “The reason to look askance at Rubio is how he behaved as Speaker of Florida’s House in scuttling some important enforcement bills against illegal immigration, then in running for the U.S. Senate declared that he was against amnesty only then to be the main Repub dupe on the Gang of Eight massive amnesty and immigration-acceleration bill in 2014.”
I don’t remember what excuses / apologies he gave for the immigration fiascos (nor all the details of the events), but I suspect he got snookered in by claims from the Democrats that they were “only trying to protect political refugees from deportation,” which at the time would have included a lot of Cubans who genuinely did deserve bona fide refugee status.
Looking at this very brief (and probably omission-riddled) post, the offering looked good on its face (they usually do), and he was probably glad-handed by the senior Republicans who also signed on (McCain, Graham, Flake) and promised Fame and Glory in the Inner Circle.
He was hardly alone in his support: “In June 2013, S.744 passed the Senate with a strong majority—68–32, with 14 Republicans joining all Democrats.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_of_Eight_(immigration)
Despite the Democrats reneging on their promises to Reagan that snookered him into approving the amnesty bill that hit his desk in the 80s, it took a long time for most Republicans to realize that the Democrats (and not a few Rino/GOPe representatives) had much more nefarious schemes lurking behind their oh-so-compassionate claims, although, as you pointed out, many people in 2014 saw through the fine print of their actual bill.
Maybe he still believed at that time there some were honest politicians, or at least people he could “make a deal with” — like Trump in 2017 — which we now know is not true.
I am grateful that he has finally Seen the Light, as evidenced by his actions as Secretary of State.
Although I suspect he would still find a way to lean a little to the side of any Cuban immigrants in need.
— Paul Nachman
You’re not alone. I’ve noted before that Rubio has reason to be deeply, profoundly grateful to Donald Trump for giving him a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of GOP voters. Up until his time as SecState, Rubio was absolutely haunted by his immigration decisions in 2013. I’ve said before that in 2016, every time Rubio appeared on TV or a screen, he might as well have had the words ‘GANG OF EIGHT’ flashing above his head from the chyron. It had basically crippled his political career and put the White House beyond reach, until the Donald threw him a lifeline.
The question is, has he changed his views or is this just him being a loyal soldier for his President right now? He’s back in the game but the jury is still ultimately out.
— AesopFan
You are being far too charitable in your assessment.
It had nothing to do with being snookered by the Dems for most of the GOP, though some may have been.
For the most part, it’s quite simply that the elite of both parties, the big donors and their ideological thinkers, just simply are globalists. They look at the world and see borders as a barrier, an inconvenience.
Corporate America wants unlimited immigration to keep wages down and to import customers. Ditto the big individual donors, ‘the billionaires’. When the Dem base voters complain about the mega-rich routinely acting against the national interest, they are not entirely wrong. Of course there are exceptions, but many do think and proceed that way.
It’s not just the mega-rich, though. Many small business owners and the like also love open borders for the same reasons: cheap labor and more customers. They too push the GOP for open borders.
(Again, not all of them think that way, but many do. Plus, some who would by choice prefer closed borders find themselves forced to play the same game because otherwise their competitors would trounce them with cheap labor. This has to be addressed and decided collectively.)
These big donors poured money into Republican coffers and often recruited the candidates who ran. They were pushing ‘fiscal conservative/social liberal’ as the mantra from the late 1990s up too, well, now. Senator Lankford tried to pass off an amnesty bill as an enforcement bill as recently as 2024.
Paul Ryan was not snookered. He wanted (and wants) open borders. Ditto Denny Hastert. Ditto Thom Tillis and Don Bacon and Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn and Maria Salazar etc. etc. Ideologically they naturally lean that way and their donors are constantly pushing them to go faster and farther.
Right now, Maria Salazar is pushing her ‘Dignidad Act’ bill, yet another big amnesty to keep labor costs down for agricultural employers. Don Bacon openly admits he wants to supply ag interests with cheaper foreign labor. Fortunately he’ll be gone soon, either way.
Along with those cold financial interests, the ideological thinking of the educated elite Right runs globalist as well. Many of them are libertarians who have trouble even conceiving of a ‘national interest’, seeing only atomized individuals. Some libertarian thinkers even believe that importing many foreigners could turn us into a low-trust society and see that as a good thing. Some right-wing thinkers are so besotted by Ayn Rand’s fantasies that all they can see are heroic entrepreneurs tied down by small-minded national governments and lazy workers.
This is less a Democrat vs. Republican thing than an elite vs. commoner argument, cutting across both parties (though the open borders faction is now gradually losing control in the GOP).
If J.D. Vance is the nominee I am sitting it out. It is bad enough that we have a Democratic Party overrun with Jew haters and we do not need a cowardly idiot such as Vance who is a lick spittle to Sucker Qatarlson. I really want Marco Rubio.