Rubio: old and new
A great many people on the right who used to mock and distrust Marco Rubio are very appreciative of his performance so far as Secretary of State.
They’re also very surprised, because they had written him off as a lightweight and even a betrayer. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump gave him a name – “Little Marco” – that seemed to sum this up. And Chris Christie mocked him for repeating himself in one of the Republican debates.
But the worm sometimes turns. Somewhere along the line, Trump decided that Little Marco was big enough to become his Secretary of State, and now he praises him to the skies. Those who think Trump never abandons a grudge forget things like this. Then again, maybe Trump never disliked Rubio at all and the name-calling was just his usual tactic of insulting his rivals.
Now we’re hearing there’s a chance that the Cuban Communist regime will fall soon. Wouldn’t it be extraordinary if a man of Cuban heritage, whose parents hated Communism, would hold the post of Secretary of State when the end of the regime came?
NOTE: Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of verbiage here defending Rubio. In this 2015 post I highlighted some suggestions for how he should deal with his earlier stance on amnesty, and in two long post I analyzed what happened in that awful exchange with Christie during the debates. Those posts are this one and especially this one. That latter post might even help you in arguments you have in your own life; it contains some information about the art of arguing.
I remember my qualms about Rubio were over his support for the faulty immigration bill. He has performed magnificently as SoS.
One of Trump’s less endearing traits is the malicious nicknames. OK, if he really believes Hilary is Crooked, that fits. (Who doesn’t believe Hilary, Bill and the Foundation are not crooked.) Low energy Jeb was OK because it was more funny than mean. But little Marco was mean. What was it supposed to convey?
I think he would be a better choice for the Prez nomination that JD.
In the 8 yrs, he has grown and matured into a formable leader.
Rubio, to me, was always likable. In fact, I remember when he was doing that speech when he tried to “sneak” a drink of water.
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19ZxJVnM5Gs
OMG! I felt so sorry for him as he was trying to be discrete and it only made it look worse. But, he did laugh about it a few times afterwards.
In the past he needed more seasoning. In this season of The Apprentice he’s the runaway leader.
Immigration is more important than foreign policy, and foreign policy can be downstream of it. A bad position on immigration makes good foreign policy much harder, if not pointless, as we discussed here just four days ago. A President needs to work for the interests of Americans at home as well as abroad.
Rubio’s doing fine in his current role, why risk promoting him to one where he won’t? I think James Buchanan was the last Secretary of State to serve as President, and Hillary Clinton the most recent one to aspire to it.