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Not Perfect. Not Complete. But Very, Very Good.
I’m not saying you should vote for him. And I can’t make you vote for him. But here’s why a lot of people will vote for him:
And I can’t say I mind.
Published in Elections, General, Religion & Philosophy
I’m saying you should vote for him.
Marco Rubio has always been my preference for the GOP nom. And while shaky on matters of religion I feel more akin with believers than with militant secularists.
However . . .
This response was given in a room filled with mostly believers. It feels very much like pandering. Marco Rubio could have told the fellow that as a conservative Republican he respects the Constitution, a document that protects an individual’s right of conscience. Nonbelievers have nothing to fear from a Rubio Administration.
One suspects a set-up, a video-op designed to gain favor with Evangelicals. A tad disappointing.
But I remain a fan.
This is what makes me want to vote for him. Rubio always puts me into knots. One day I can’t stand him and another I can’t see any reason not to vote for him.
He wasn’t pandering. A couple of weeks ago while cleaning the car I heard on the radio an ad of his where he explained the mission of Christians to declare the salvation of Christ. It was really good and made me stop and think about Rubio. My disagreement with Rubio is about immigration–and for me this is a huge issue–but this ad of his made me do a double take.
I worry about what sounded like “Compassionate Conservatism” here. I want the President to care – and to see the solutions through freedom, not redistribution.
The GOP and conservative movement are completely broken. How we could end up with two of the worst candidates we ever have considered leading the race, with one of them almost sure to win, when there is so much talent like this to choose from is incredibly disturbing. As disturbing to me as the fact that this country elected Obama twice. Not only is my country a foreign place to me, but now I discover the groups and institutions that I held out hope of turning things around are just as unserious, clueless and ineffectual as the rest of the country.
I didn’t come into this election cycle as a definite Rubio supporter. I expected to be seriously agonizing over a number of excellent choices with very good ones to fall back on. I was excited the potential of Rubio, Walker, and Jindal. I was very content to know that I might have to settle for a Perry, Christie or Fiorina (after the first debate). I didn’t even mind in theory the idea of another President Bush, I just thought that he had too much baggage to ever compete or be electable. I dreaded a Santorum, Huckabee, Cruz, or Paul candidacy, but I didn’t worry because I believed none of them really had a chance against such a strong field. The rest I didn’t even consider serious candidates, especially Trump.
Now look at where we are. I can’t muster the will care much anymore.
Rubio has always known how to say the right thing. The problem is what he does after he wins the election does not match the rhetoric…
Something I like to look at in candidates is body language. Look that this photo. Imagine this is a line of executives. Whose company is it? Obviously Trump’s, right? He looks the part. Now look at the rest. If you had to choose from the rest who was the guy who probably was driving the ship when Trump was away, that looks like Rubio. The straight shooter, the center of the network, the guy who will listen and give advice, the guy you trust. Everyone else looks Joe Manager.
Ultimately I think this gut feeling for Rubio will outweigh specific policy problems some (like Robert?) have with him.
Of course, we can probably say that about every one of them except Cruz. The question with Cruz, however, is can he lead others in his direction?
It seems to me that Cruz inspires people to dig in against him. If that is in fact the case then he’s of no use at all.
As a Jew, I liked what he said. He spoke of his commitment to faith, and was also inclusive in saying that we all can practice as we wish, or not. Now if this whole amnesty issue could be straightened out . . .
I didn’t like Rubio’s response. First, he was not well composed but erratic. Second, I would have preferred if he just echoed our Founders:
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If he had quoted the founding father other people would have called that pandering. The questioner asked what Rubio was going to do, not what Madison did.
The Founders did a better job, with Rubio fumbling around as he did. The Founders also showed great understatement and restraint and set an exemplary precedent of how Presidential aspirants should deal with this subject. Rubio has had over 2 hundred years to improve on these remarks, or at least not fall below them…which he unfortunately did.
PS. It was clear to me that Rubio was pandering, or as close as one can get without earning that label.
Perhaps if one looks at this in isolation. We’re all pretty jaded at this point. But if one looks at the entire campaign thus far he has been incredibly consistent and comfortable without being repetitive and rehearsed.
He actually listens to and answers questions. That alone is kind of amazing if you think about it.
I’m four-square in Rubio’s corner. He seems to want to leave people like me alone, and I’m cool with that.
Sure, he’s got game. He just needs another 10 years of seasoning, IMO.
The only thing that scares me about him is the immigration mess that he is enveloped in. That isn’t a deal breaker for me though. I think that if he wins in November, he’ll tack to the right and be a strong force for protecting Americans and American jobs from non-Americans. Much of that will have to be led by immigration hawks in the congress but I think he would be on board. Unfortunately, too many have moved too far away from Rubio at this point. He has been left behind. He’ll be out of the race in 2 weeks.
I’d agree with that. Unfortunately, politics isn’t baseball and we don’t get to pick when we call up. I think a lot of people like him right now and want to see what he can do.
Yes, he does seem to affect the Democrats and the GOP establishment types that way — you’re right. They are definitely afraid of him and are digging in against him — as you say.
Of course, for many millions of us he inspires us to dig in against the other candidates as being wishy-washy establishment types.
I’m ok with what the guy said. It seems like a really bad speech; that makes me think he’s not just trying to work in the answer designed & rehearsed. If he’s speaking his mind at least in a broad sense, that’s pretty good.
As for his coda, that’s the only interesting part. A GOP that does not think about helping the poor & dealing with prison is not likely to think about how to extend its coalition. As others have said, this is risky–I’m not looking for another welfare state oracle. But I also don’t think there are enough votes not already cast for fiscal conservatism to win national elections…
Also, Sen. Rubio seems to me to desperately need to persuade at least some evangelicals to go his way rather than with the alternative.
But as a leader, is that good? Generally I’m a gridlock is good guy. But they’ve moved the ball so much. If we dig in our heels, then we’re just stuck here. I’m not sure this is where I want to get stuck.
Amnesty. I will most likely vote for him if her gets the Nomination, but he is for Amnesty.
As a nation, we have a right, and a duty to the people already here to control our borders. This man, I don’t care about his faith, this man, Does. Not. Want. To. Do. That.
Rubio wants to encourage anyone that wants to sneak in, to get in, and give the store away. It is like saying “Well, theft is wrong, but if we don’t catch you when you steal it, you get to keep it.”
People say they don’t trust Cruz. I trust Rubio on immigration. I trust him to act against my deep wishes, and the wishes of the majority of the American people.
Clearly, he thinks he is one of our betters, who knows better than we do, that importing as many unskilled workers into the nation as possible is a good thing.
He is for Amnesty, and that is all I need to know. He is working to change the face of the voting public, into one that will vote Democrat.
I believe there are two sets of voters in the GOP today: Those that think business as usual is the way to go, and those that think the very existence of the Republic is at stake.
The former group, appear to think the latter group are nuts. They might call them “chicken littles” and write long posts telling them to calm down.
The latter group think the former have their heads buried in the sand. They are tired of being told to shut up and vote, and they are tired of being told, “Hey, one more win and we will really start to make changes”.
Rubio is in group #1.
Or maybe is a son of an immigrant who grew up in an immigrant community and who has dealt with many, many immigrant constituents and seen many, many illegals in the communities he grew up in and served. Maybe his personal experience and background lead him to a very sincere position about what he thinks is best for the country.
Clearly your humbly stated conclusions and insight into Rubio’s character show you don’t think you’re better than anyone, so feel good about yourself.
OK, but… Most people aren’t single issue voters like this. These people take a look at the whole basket. Then they look at what a President actually can do in real life. Then they realize that issues like this one or social security or some others are never actually going to be addressed in any meaningful way in their lifetime. So they shove these to the bottom on the basket.
What’s left over is a bunch of same-looking baskets. Then they vote for the person.
That he knew he had to lie about to get elected? He’s so sincerely sure the voters don’t understand the issue as well as he does, right?
How does that rebut Bryan G. Stephens for saying ” he thinks he is one of our betters, who knows better than we do”?
THIS issue is more important to me than a whole bunch of other issues put together.
Now, is Rubio were to follow my advice, and promise to nulify the Administrative State, then I would put the Immigration thing aside. But no, his plan is to not enforce the law, just like Obama.
There is no charitable view on that, other than his whim trumps existing law.