Rubio: A challenge to his life story

Marco Rubio isn’t who he claims to be, said Manuel Roig-Franzia in The Washington Post. The Florida senator—a possible Republican vice presidential candidate in 2012—has claimed to be “the son of exiles” who fled to America following Fidel Castro’s takeover of Cuba. But immigration documents reveal that Rubio’s parents actually arrived in the U.S. in 1956—three years before the Cuban Revolution. They weren’t political refugees from communism, but economic émigrés looking for a better life. Rubio’s status as a rising Republican star was heavily tied to his life story, said David Weigel in Slate.com. In Florida’s large Cuban-American community, his anti-Castro credentials made him a sure vote-getter, and in national Republican circles, he’s seen as a powerful symbol because of his parents’ rejection of socialism in favor of America’s by-the-bootstraps capitalism. But will his fudging of the timeline really matter? Probably not, since this little gotcha story will fade by the time the eventual Republican nominee picks a running mate.

This non-story is irrelevant, said Marc Thiessen in The Washington Post. Rubio has admitted getting his parents’ arrival date wrong—not because he lied, but because he relied on “family lore” and never checked their immigration documents. And irrespective of when his parents left Cuba, they’re still exiles. Indeed, Rubio’s mother went back to Cuba after Castro’s takeover, to see if the family might move back, and quickly returned to the U.S. when she saw what el presidente was doing to her country. So why did the Post run this deeply flawed hit piece? asked Jim Geraghty in National​Review.com. It’s simple: The liberal media has decided to “deride and smear” this charismatic Cuban-American before he becomes a national figure and Latinos line up to vote Republican.

Rubio’s embellishment might have been accidental, said Steve Kornacki in Salon.com. But this mistake is part of a wider pattern of sloppiness that may undermine his political future. As a member of the Florida legislature, he failed to disclose a loan, and used a Republican Party credit card to charge such questionable expenses as car repairs, groceries, and plane tickets for his wife. Rubio’s tendency to fudge the facts “could be a real concern” when it’s time for the Republican presidential nominee to vet potential vice presidents. “And you’ve got to imagine that after the Palin experience of 2008, the next GOP nominee will be a little more careful.”

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