Why Marco Rubio is a bad VP pick
The handsome Hispanic senator from Florida seems like a perfect choice, says David Adams at Reuters — until you look more closely
"Rock star" Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) "could be the Republican vice presidential candidate from central casting," says David Adams at Reuters. He's "telegenic, Hispanic, and a fiscal conservative who has been embraced by the Tea Party." Rubio is viewed as a near-lock for the GOP ticket, and both Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney have said Rubio is on their short lists. They may want to think again, Adams argues. The conservative Rubio, who rails against Washington for "piling up debt," is underwater on his Miami home, "and at times has had difficulty paying his mortgage." After an IRS investigation of the Florida GOP, an "embarrassed" Rubio had to pony up $16,000 because he frequently "used his party credit card for personal use." And his inspiring back story — "Rubio initially cast himself as the U.S.-born son of Cuban immigrants who fled Fidel Castro's revolution in 1959" — is something of a sham. Rubio's parents left Cuba years before Castro took power. To top it all off, many analysts doubt Rubio can actually deliver Hispanic votes. Here, an excerpt:
[Rubio] has not endeared himself to Hispanic voters on several fronts, analysts say.
In Congress he opposed the so-called DREAM Act, which would have provided a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants, and he expressed support for a harsh immigration law in Arizona.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Rubio also voted against Sonia Sotomayor, Obama's Supreme Court nominee who is of Puerto Rican descent...[and] voted against Obama's health care overhaul, which is popular among many low-income Hispanics.
"He's on the wrong side on every issue that matters to Hispanics," said Fernand Amandi with Bendixen & Amandi, a political consulting firm in Miami that has been retained by the Obama campaign. "He's going to have to answer to those positions."
Read the entire article at Reuters.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Do youth curfews work?
Today's big question Banning unaccompanied children from towns and cities is popular with some voters but it is contentious politically
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Sleaze baack!'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Quiz of The Week: 20 - 26 April
Puzzles and Quizzes Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By Rebecca Messina, The Week UK Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published