'American Son' a tale of two Marco Rubios, child of exiles and politician 'in cycle'

Marco Rubio felt out of place for a moment.
On the cusp of being sworn in as Florida’s newest senator in 2011, the Miami-born son of Cuban exiles had wandered away from his family during a tour of George Washington’s Mount Vernon home.

“I watched them from afar for a minute, laughing and talking in Spanish and English,” Rubio writes in his new book, An American Son.

“My first thought was how different my family was, how different I was, from the men and women who had lived in this place, and from the Americans who had founded our nation,” he writes.

“We looked and sounded different from the descendants of George Washington’s generation,” he continues. “But we embodied everything America’s founding generation had hoped America would become.”

That contradictory sense — of otherness but connectedness —is central to the immigrant experience in America. And it’s a key to understanding Rubio, whose book dropped just as his name began rising on the shortlist of potential running mates for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

In 303 breezily written pages, the outgoing cocksure Rubio sometimes comes across as shy and plagued at times by doubt. He dwells on the spiritual yet seems to obsess about money, which was always tight. For a politician so apt to talk about the future, he seems equally bound to the past.

A 41-year-old lawyer, Rubio first won political office 14 years ago on the West Miami City commission.

Rubio’s conservative worldview was shaped by being both the child of immigrants and a member of Miami’s Cuban exile community, which treats him like everyone’s collective son. When Rubio served in the Florida House, he often downplayed the fact that he was the state’s first Cuban-American House speaker, serving from 2007-2009. Now he celebrates that past.

“I often feel as if I live in two worlds,” Rubio writes at one point, summing up the sentiment of anyone who lives in Miami-Dade. “I am the son of exiles.”

So he’s not just An American Son, which reads like two books in one.

More here

Comments

[Not a Marco fan]

I am a Cuban American, and not a fan of Marco,he is an opportunist who will do anything to get ahead. If Romney picks Marco many things that are not favorable will come to light, if I were Obama I would hope Rubio is Romney's pick.

[Miami Mom]

I know Marco personally and can tell you he is very humble and down to earth. He has a great sense of humor and a quick wit. I remember his doubt about his candidacy early on in the Senate race with the golden boy Crist so way ahead.
We would be very lucky indeed to have him be our VP or even President someday. His honor and integrity put our current administration to shame.

[Can't take anymore]

Other than representing the interests of big business, Tea Baggggers and the Cuban emigre' community in Dade/Broward just what has Marcocito accomplished for the people of Florida. He has benefitted grandly from his political connections and his so-called "consultant/lobbyist" businesses that are pretty much barely legal bribes. Do we really need a possible president of the US whose experience has been limited to serving his own interests, two urban counties and the gated mega-retirement compound known as "The Villages?"

[A Smart Miami Mom]

As a mother, Miami Mom I might have more respect for Marco had he not cut a deal with North Florida that took away much needed funds from our public schools, so he could get the votes to become speaker of the house. Our children and providing them a quality education should have been more important than his own power and ambition.

[amigay]

What has Rubio done for Florida?

[PEter Schorsch]

Compilation of analysis and reaction to Marco Rubio's autobiography "An American Son"

bit.ly/Mia7rm

[ConservAl]

It is comical that Rubio is considered a Tea Party candidate----they oppose "career politicians"--and that is exactly what Rubio is---his only real occupations has been "politician". The Tea Party supports Arizona style immigration---yet when Rubio was Speaker of the House he blocked such legislation. The Tea Party opposes wasteful spending---apparently they are unaware of the hundreds of millions in tax payer funds Rubio earmarked for Miami as a legislator. While Rubio is articulate and intelligent---his record of accomplishment is non-existent.

[Hispanics- Not A Monolithic Voting Bloc]

During his tenure at FIU as a professor Rubio adamantly admired the strategy of the Obama's "Yes We Can" campaign, any of his ex students can attest to that. In addition professor Rubio stated that if he became Senator he would be in a very special class, he would become a "Prince" per say of the American political establishment. For Rubio to state that he does not think about his next political position is a blatant lie. Mrs. O'Donnell was not able to hold her self back from literally calling him out on his lie. Hispanics are not a monolithic voting bloc that can be manipulated because of a last name, thus picking Rubio as the VP candidate will not guarantee our vote.