A Big Disappointment
5:25 AM
by Nick Stone of Drawnlines Politics.
Like I wrote in my previous posts about Marco Rubio, a funny thing happens when a scrappy underdog catches up or surpasses the front runner in a contested race. They start having to defend their own record. For the Rubio Senate campaign, that small detail might turn out to be a bigger burden than his hard line supporters might see coming.
Specifically, Rubio's niche as the far-right conservative might be in jeopardy as details of his career come to the surface. While the candidate hammers away at Governor Crist for his acceptance and support of President Obama's stimulus dollars and tentative support for emissions control enhancements, Rubio neglects to mention that his own past has been peppered with details that may appear to some as less than conservative. The St Pete Times says, "...if those turning against Gov. Charlie Crist are looking for a pure, uncompromising conservative, Rubio's legislative record might give them pause."
The paper continues, "The 38-year-old campaigning as an authentic, from-the-gut conservative is the same person who spent tens of thousands of dollars to test political messages on focus groups, gave out big staff salaries and, like Crist, favored a $60 million subsidy for a new Florida Marlins stadium." The NRA declared Rubio's record on gun rights, "A big disappointment" and added that as speaker, he "talked the talk but didn't walk the walk" on issues important to the group.
As speaker, many of Rubio's bold and controversial ideas were enacted by the State House, only to get killed or reversed upon arrival to the State Senate. Basically, he got credit for passing bills with "fresh ideas" without those ideas ever actually making it into law. For the legislation that Rubio did see into law, his stance as the true conservative in the race is in worse jeopardy. While Rubio criticizes Crist for many seemingly unconservative moves, Rubio's own hands aren't without blood.
For instance, Rubio enjoys criticising Crist for expanding Citizen's Insurance Corp, he voted for measures that did exactly that. Rubio specifically touted "Cap and Trade" as a market-based solution to lowering greenhouse emissions, then criticized the governor's tepid support of the idea. He spent hundreds of thousands of dollars hiring new House employees and lavishly renovated the chambers to include a private dining room for lawmakers. A vocal opponent of earmarks, Rubio didn't mind passing a bill with $800,000 worth of them for astroturf for his home county where he plays flag football.
Rubio, himself the son of immigrants, has taken a lot of heat for his rhetoric on the campaign trail that promises zero tolerance for undocumented aliens. But in his final year as speaker alone, six bills stalled in committee at his urging that would have cracked down on illegal immigrants in the state of Florida. So is Rubio an inspirational leader, or just playing politics as usual? Bill Landes of the Florida Minutemen Civil Defense Corps says, "He's saying what the people want to hear to get elected." Perhaps that should serve as no surprise. Speaker Rubio was known, after all, for spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on focus groups to test soundbites - yet another unconservative outlay of funds.
On the status and future of his campaign, The Buzz Florida Politics blog has likened Rubio to Katherine Harris and claimed that he may not have the staying power to win in a general election even if he does manage to leapfrog the governor by tearing him down. But one Republican or the other does have to go on to face Kendrick Meek and the Democrats, and the Rubio tactic of making himself look good by making Governor Crist look bad might not have the staying power either. As Chairman Jim Greer wrote in a letter defending his personal support of the governor, "While many in and out of our party seem to be committed to promoting discord, publicly attacking our Republican elected leaders, embarrassing our party and providing ammunition for the Democrats and the media to promote the idea that the Republican Party is on a path of self destruction, I do not believe this is true." Florida Republicans can only hope that Mr Greer is right, though one candidate in the Senate race seems hellbent on dividing his party.
So if all of the talk about the meteoric rise of Marco Rubio sounds a little too good to be true, it just might be the case. Just as the Nelly Furtado song warns, All good things come to an end. Though Rubio currently appears to have the momentum in the race, let the details of his career be a cautionary tale to his hardline supporters. The Rubio campaign - like the Rubio record itself - might turn out to be a big disappointment.
There's ALWAYS something new happening at Drawnlines Politics.
For videos and archives visit our homepage
Check out our new Election Center!
Like I wrote in my previous posts about Marco Rubio, a funny thing happens when a scrappy underdog catches up or surpasses the front runner in a contested race. They start having to defend their own record. For the Rubio Senate campaign, that small detail might turn out to be a bigger burden than his hard line supporters might see coming.
Specifically, Rubio's niche as the far-right conservative might be in jeopardy as details of his career come to the surface. While the candidate hammers away at Governor Crist for his acceptance and support of President Obama's stimulus dollars and tentative support for emissions control enhancements, Rubio neglects to mention that his own past has been peppered with details that may appear to some as less than conservative. The St Pete Times says, "...if those turning against Gov. Charlie Crist are looking for a pure, uncompromising conservative, Rubio's legislative record might give them pause."
The paper continues, "The 38-year-old campaigning as an authentic, from-the-gut conservative is the same person who spent tens of thousands of dollars to test political messages on focus groups, gave out big staff salaries and, like Crist, favored a $60 million subsidy for a new Florida Marlins stadium." The NRA declared Rubio's record on gun rights, "A big disappointment" and added that as speaker, he "talked the talk but didn't walk the walk" on issues important to the group.
As speaker, many of Rubio's bold and controversial ideas were enacted by the State House, only to get killed or reversed upon arrival to the State Senate. Basically, he got credit for passing bills with "fresh ideas" without those ideas ever actually making it into law. For the legislation that Rubio did see into law, his stance as the true conservative in the race is in worse jeopardy. While Rubio criticizes Crist for many seemingly unconservative moves, Rubio's own hands aren't without blood.
For instance, Rubio enjoys criticising Crist for expanding Citizen's Insurance Corp, he voted for measures that did exactly that. Rubio specifically touted "Cap and Trade" as a market-based solution to lowering greenhouse emissions, then criticized the governor's tepid support of the idea. He spent hundreds of thousands of dollars hiring new House employees and lavishly renovated the chambers to include a private dining room for lawmakers. A vocal opponent of earmarks, Rubio didn't mind passing a bill with $800,000 worth of them for astroturf for his home county where he plays flag football.
Rubio, himself the son of immigrants, has taken a lot of heat for his rhetoric on the campaign trail that promises zero tolerance for undocumented aliens. But in his final year as speaker alone, six bills stalled in committee at his urging that would have cracked down on illegal immigrants in the state of Florida. So is Rubio an inspirational leader, or just playing politics as usual? Bill Landes of the Florida Minutemen Civil Defense Corps says, "He's saying what the people want to hear to get elected." Perhaps that should serve as no surprise. Speaker Rubio was known, after all, for spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on focus groups to test soundbites - yet another unconservative outlay of funds.
On the status and future of his campaign, The Buzz Florida Politics blog has likened Rubio to Katherine Harris and claimed that he may not have the staying power to win in a general election even if he does manage to leapfrog the governor by tearing him down. But one Republican or the other does have to go on to face Kendrick Meek and the Democrats, and the Rubio tactic of making himself look good by making Governor Crist look bad might not have the staying power either. As Chairman Jim Greer wrote in a letter defending his personal support of the governor, "While many in and out of our party seem to be committed to promoting discord, publicly attacking our Republican elected leaders, embarrassing our party and providing ammunition for the Democrats and the media to promote the idea that the Republican Party is on a path of self destruction, I do not believe this is true." Florida Republicans can only hope that Mr Greer is right, though one candidate in the Senate race seems hellbent on dividing his party.
So if all of the talk about the meteoric rise of Marco Rubio sounds a little too good to be true, it just might be the case. Just as the Nelly Furtado song warns, All good things come to an end. Though Rubio currently appears to have the momentum in the race, let the details of his career be a cautionary tale to his hardline supporters. The Rubio campaign - like the Rubio record itself - might turn out to be a big disappointment.
There's ALWAYS something new happening at Drawnlines Politics.
For videos and archives visit our homepage
Check out our new Election Center!
Posted by Nick Stone
on 5:25 AM.
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