Marco Rubio is at a crossroads

If he wants to be a good senator, he needs to let go of his presidential ambitions

Marco Rubio should abandon his dream of presidency.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Marco Rubio won his primary this week, and is now officially the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in Florida. Finally, a bit of good news for this gifted politician, after a rather humiliating year.

It wasn't so long ago when Rubio was the GOP's great hope. Young, charismatic, smart, Latino, with a winning personal story, he looked tailor-made for a presidential run. And so he ran. But his media-based campaign never really got traction. He ended up looking like the establishment dream candidate in an anti-establishment year. The highly polished speaker suffered what some called a "software malfunction" in the New Hampshire debate, inexplicably repeating the same talking point word-for-word four times in a row right after being needled by Chris Christie for repeating talking points.

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Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry is a writer and fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. His writing has appeared at Forbes, The Atlantic, First Things, Commentary Magazine, The Daily Beast, The Federalist, Quartz, and other places. He lives in Paris with his beloved wife and daughter.