Marco Rubio resists being called the GOP “savior.”
But on Tuesday night, he’s the party’s chosen one.
The Florida senator was picked by Republican Party leaders to rebut President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address — and Rubio will do it in English and Spanish.
Rubio’s speech will be the first of its kind delivered in two languages.
That alone speaks volumes about Rubio’s key role in attracting Hispanics to the GOP and leading its immigration-reform efforts. It earned him a spot on the cover of Time magazine, which called him “the Republican Savior.”
“There is only one savior, and it’s not me,” Rubio responded on Twitter last week, closing his message with the hashtag “#Jesus.”
In a conference call Monday, Democratic National Committee chair and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz criticized her fellow South Floridian, Rubio, for having “extreme” positions on budget cuts that are bad for everyone.
Like Obama’s speech, Rubio’s will be wide-ranging. It won’t focus on immigration alone, and might only touch on the subject.
Rubio often tries to be counter-intuitive. The more pundits expect him to talk about immigration, the less inclined he’ll be to do it. He’ll try to present conservative ideas in a new-sounding way to appeal to the middle class.
Also, Rubio chafes at being typecast. He doesn’t want to be the token Hispanic, crusading for immigration reform. Yet he’ll use the issue to his advantage.
To party leaders, Rubio isn’t so much a savior as a Moses figure to lead them out of self-imposed electoral bondage when it comes to Hispanics, the electorate’s fastest-growing segment.
Many Hispanics have long been troubled by the tone as well as the policies of Republicans, including former presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
But now, a Miami-born son of immigrants will be talking to many of them in their native tongue. However one of his GOP colleagues, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, will deliver a rival Tea Party Express rebuttal, which some party officials don't appreciate.
Rubio is peddling the same broken policies which have led the GOP into a vacuum where they only hear themselves. They don't care about anyone else in this Country other than the gentleman in their pockets.
Posted by: No me Gusta Marco | February 12, 2013 at 09:56 AM
Marco Rubio is know as the congressman from Florida where they are trying to establish Cuban-style democracy, starting by changing voting rules requiring votors to stand in line for upto 8 hours to vote. The rest of the nation hopes that this is not our future.
Posted by: Adel Antado | February 12, 2013 at 11:26 PM