Sen. Marco Rubio brings promise of American Dream


In early 2010, Sen. Marco Rubio was polling at 3 percent in the U.S. Senate race against then Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. By April 2010, Crist dropped out to run as an independent because Rubio was overwhelming his chances with the Republican Party. On Nov. 1, the Wall Street Journal published an article called, “Who’s Afraid of Marco Rubio?” The answer to that question was the Democrats. The Democrats were so scared, in fact, that Bill Clinton threw his support behind Crist.

On Nov. 2, Rubio won the election by a landslide, earning around the same amount of votes as both Crist and the Democrat candidate combined.

Rubio didn’t sweep this election because he changed his message or because he pulled some strings. He won the election because his story, charisma and ideals are irresistible. It is for these same reasons that he is at least one of the top five Republican candidates for 2016, if not the best.

Rubio is the son of Cuban refugees. His father was a bartender. Now 43 years old and a married father of four, the Florida Senator said in his announcement speech, “My father stood behind a small portable bar in the back of a room for all those years, so that tonight I could stand behind this podium in front of this room.”

He attended Santa Fe Community College before getting his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida and his law degree from the University of Miami. From there, he went from West Miami city commissioner, Florida state legislator, majority whip, majority leader and Speaker of the House to U.S. Senator.

Rubio’s humble story is the story of the American dream, impossible to disrespect. When people tout him as the “Republican President Barack Obama,” Rubio deflects with decisiveness, simultaneously acknowledging Obama’s high qualities of character and deploring Obama’s presidency. He is known for being one of the most genuine politicians in D.C. Competitor, old friend and former Florida governor Jeb Bush once said, “He’s the only guy I know on the scene today who makes grown men cry.”

His campaign slogan, “A New American Century, sums up his goals quite nicely: to transition America into the globalized economy and revitalize the American dream. Rubio campaigns on tough foreign policy, education reform that refocuses higher education on employment and tax cuts that strengthen the family and encourage economic growth.

There are those who believe Rubio is too young, and that perhaps he’d be better off waiting another term before running. Those people, however, are forgetting how our current president’s resume looked in 2008. Rubio’s people will quickly note that while Obama didn’t seem to accomplish anything as an Illinois senator, Rubio was the shining star of the Florida legislature and, unlike Obama, will have served a full term in the U.S. Senate if elected.

He is not shying away from his youth, either. His entire campaign is that America cannot be led by leaders of the past and that this “election is a generational choice about what kind of country we will be.”

True, Rubio will have to fight Bush for Florida funding. He will also have to fight criticism of his failed initial attempt at immigration reform. But he is irrefutably a valid candidate. If history is any indication, Republican and Democrat candidates alike would be foolish to dismiss him.

Claire Cahoon is a sophomore majoring in English. “Point/Counterpoint” runs Tuesdays.

3 replies
  1. jjazznola
    jjazznola says:

    This guy is not at all ready for prime time. To anyone over 40 he looks and sounds like a kid. No new ideas whatsoever and no real conviction. Maybe in 4 or 8 years but I doubt he will win a single primary.

  2. Rationalist
    Rationalist says:

    Still trying to figure out what makes a junior senator, who says what everyone wants to hear, think that he can govern this country
    correctly.

    Also trying to figure out why voters would think that he can, too.

    We’ve already seen that failed scenario…

    Fix the insanity – Vote for a Constitutional Conservative in 2016

    • jjazznola
      jjazznola says:

      I really hope you are not talking about that clown Ted Cruz. His own party cannot stand him!

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