Yesterday Republican Senator Marco Rubio announced he was running for president. In a speech in his home state of Florida Senator Rubio emphasized his working class and Hispanic background and claimed it was time for the Republican Party to make a "generational choice."
Rubio appeared to be attacking both his Republican rival for the nomination, Jeb Bush, as well as Hillary Clinton with lines such as "yesterday is over, and we are never going back." Rubio continued saying America had always been about the future and moving forward but "We can’t do that by going back to the leaders and ideas of the past. We must change the decisions we are making by changing the people who are making them."
Senator Rubio's working class themed speech was immediately followed, ironically, by a full public embrace of billionaire sugar magnate Jose Fanjul. The Fanjul family is the epitome of wealth and privilege relying on government subsidies and labor exemptions. Recently they promoted an astroturf campaign to oppose preservation in the everglades.
But Rubio's biggest problem may be his record of jumping out in front of issues only to abandon them when the pressure comes. His stance on immigration has been all over the place and his initial position cost him support among the Republican "Tea Party" base while his subsequent flip angered everyone else.
Despite his rough start as a national figure Senator Rubio could be a force to be reckoned with in the Republican primary, especially among Republicans looking for a newer face from a key swing state that can appeal to Hispanic voters. Most Republicans should realize by now that if they fail to expand their electorate outside of older white voters they will be unable to win national elections.
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