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    The Week

    Why Marco Rubio is a bad VP pick

    The handsome Hispanic senator from Florida seems like a perfect choice, says David Adams at Reuters — until you look more closely

    "Rock star" Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) "could be the Republican vice presidential candidate from central casting," says David Adams at Reuters. He's "telegenic, Hispanic, and a fiscal conservative who has been embraced by the Tea Party." Rubio is viewed as a near-lock for the GOP ticket, and both Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney have said Rubio is on their short lists. They may want to think again, Adams argues. The conservative Rubio, who rails against Washington for "piling up debt," is underwater on his Miami home, "and at times has had difficulty paying his mortgage." After an IRS investigation of the Florida GOP, an "embarrassed" Rubio had to pony up $16,000 because he frequently "used his party credit card for personal use." And his inspiring back story — "Rubio initially cast himself as the U.S.-born son of Cuban immigrants who fled Fidel Castro's revolution in 1959" — is something of a sham. Rubio's parents left Cuba years before Castro took power. To top it all off, many analysts doubt Rubio can actually deliver Hispanic votes. Here, an excerpt:

    [Rubio] has not endeared himself to Hispanic voters on several fronts, analysts say.

    In Congress he opposed the so-called DREAM Act, which would have provided a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants, and he expressed support for a harsh immigration law in Arizona.

    Rubio also voted against Sonia Sotomayor, Obama's Supreme Court nominee who is of Puerto Rican descent...[and] voted against Obama's health care overhaul, which is popular among many low-income Hispanics.

    "He's on the wrong side on every issue that matters to Hispanics," said Fernand Amandi with Bendixen & Amandi, a political consulting firm in Miami that has been retained by the Obama campaign. "He's going to have to answer to those positions."

    Read the entire article at Reuters.

    SEE MORE: The GOP's final Florida debate: Did Romney bury Gingrich?

     

     

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    34 comments

    • A Yahoohovianite  •  Hong Kong, Hong Kong  •  26 days ago
      Dang, here's another. "Rubio also voted against against Obama's health care overhaul". This can not possibly be true. President Obama's new health care law passed both House and Senate in 2010. Senator Rubio took office in January 2011.

      Who wrote this article? Committee To Re-Elect President Obama????
    • A Yahoohovianite  •  Hong Kong, Hong Kong  •  26 days ago
      Lots of problems here when they allege he did things and made votes he could not possibly have done.

      An example: "Rubio also voted against Sonia Sotomayor, Obama's Supreme Court nominee who is of Puerto Rican descent"

      Yet: "Aug 6, 2009 – Senate confirms Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court. Sotomayor was easily confirmed in a 68-31 vote"

      Versus:

      (Politifact) "Marco Rubio, a former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, was elected to the U.S. Senate on Nov. 2, 2010. He took office Jan. 5, 2011."

      HOW DID HE VOTE AGAINST JUSTICE SOTOMAYER IN 2009 BEFORE HE TOOK OFFICE IN 2011???
    • Jerome  •  26 days ago
      "Race", yet another mainstream media distraction, used to polarize Americans so they don't pay attention to what's really happening. An American Citizen is an American Citizen, no matter what color they are.
    • Bobby  •  Washington, District of Columbia  •  26 days ago
      Of course we should trust the advisor to Obama on who the Republican should choose as VP
    • tom  •  Tulsa, Oklahoma  •  26 days ago
      by the time he leaves office he will be a mil. +
    • BMB  •  Algonquin, Illinois  •  25 days ago
      Please pay attention to "A Yahoohovianite" below. He found gross inaccuracies in this POS "article". Rubio's first term in the Senate started in 2011, well after the Obamacare and Sotomayor votes were taken. But what do you expect in a hit piece that uses Obama's consultants for analysis.
    • don s  •  Las Vegas, Nevada  •  26 days ago
      Ask any Hispanic that has been legally in the United States for a generation or two and chances are they will
      tell you..................let the illegals do what they have to through LEGAL means to become citizens!
    • caldude1010101  •  26 days ago
      Rubio should have known better than to put personal expenses on a party provided credit card. Even if restitution is made which includes the interest charged, it's still theft. That should be enough alone to disqualify him.

      And the claims that his vehicle was damaged doing party work doesn't hold water either. He gets a reimbursement from the party to use his vehicle when necessary. If it's damaged on the job, he needs to report it to his insurance. Been there, done that and the reason why I refuse to use my personal vehicle for work-related matters anymore.
    • David  •  Shreveport, Louisiana  •  25 days ago
      Isn't normal for the Obama hacks to try and destroy someone they are terrified of. NO MO B.O. in 2012
    • A Yahoohovianite  •  Hong Kong, Hong Kong  •  26 days ago
      Another big issue: The ONLY political analyst you consult for this story (who naturally trashes Senator Rubio) is actually WORKING FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA? (""He's on the wrong side on every issue that matters to Hispanics," said Fernand Amandi with Bendixen & Amandi, a political consulting firm in Miami that has been retained by the Obama campaign").
    • Windriver  •  26 days ago
      Typical trash of separating the races by the RACISTS!
      Moral of this story? If one of certain lineage does not support in lockstep the masters of that lineage, he must not be a good one and must be banished.
      We see it in the black community too. A black conservative is not black enough or an Uncle Tom. If you aren't like Al $harpton or Cornell West, both racists to the core, you are not a black person but something else. DISGUSTING!

      The REAL racists are those who see race in everything first.
    • pepper2  •  24 days ago
      Your criticizim of Rubio is unwarranted. Were you that critical of Obama with his sweet heart real estate deal with Rezko? besides you wouldn't vote for Rubio if you were paid to do so.
    • saki  •  26 days ago
      Why it’s not necessarily about race: Each community whether ethnic, religious, political, region of country, etc have their own issues. Just because someone from your group is running does not mean that s/he represents your beliefs. If you agree with me so far, not voting for someone of your own group would show you are not racist. No?
    • BMB  •  Algonquin, Illinois  •  25 days ago
      Oh, my!!! Rubio is underwater on his mortgage!!!! Thank Democrats Chris Dodd and Barney Frank for forcing lower mortgage standards that led to the financial meltdown and caused millions of Americans to be underwater on their mortgages. As for sometimes having trouble paying his mortgage: The #$%$ libs deride Romney for being rich and therefore out of touch. Now they want to deride Rubio for suffering the same consequences of Obama's failed policies as the rest of us. These libs are just morally bankrupt and so sad.
    • R H  •  Tampa, Florida  •  26 days ago
      Don't worry about a good pick for V.P. Give us a good one for President. Have not seen one yet.
    • Jean Pierre  •  25 days ago
      This is great news for #Newt that Republicans nation wide prefer him to Mitt Romney who support has started to decline. Mitt Romney is trying to buy the election with all the money he has from Special Interest groups who want him to become President so he can keep the Bush tax cuts for the 1%. He also most likely has his eyes on the Federal Reserve so he and his buddies can Raid.

      I am sure he wants to bail out his Wall Street buddies again when they get in trouble. I mean this is what Ron Paul has been talking about. How the dollar is being devalued and how the rich are just getting more wealth & the middle class and poor are getting poorer. Have you seen Romney tax plan? It only favors the rich it does very little for the middle class & poor. The more you make the more money you get back. In fact the less you make your taxes go up. Sounds super fair doesn't it.
    • Eric  •  26 days ago
      To all of you angry, Fox News watching people who respond to criticism of illegal activity by Rubio with: "well, so and so, a Democrat did it too". Most of us totally agree with you but are commenting on the topic of the article. So either:
      1) you think criminal activity by a politician is OK because they all do it, or
      2) you are saying that your guy is just as evil as that Democrat.
      So, which is it?
    • Windriver  •  26 days ago
      House Ways and Means Chair Charlie Rangle ripped off the American taxpayers by not claiming his income and cheating on his taxes. Seems the dimicrats have no problem there eh? He is STILL a congressman!
    • Darmok E. Jalad  •  26 days ago
      He just criticized a gigantic bloc of the party by saying anti-immigration rhetoric sometimes gets harsh.
    • itiswhatitis  •  26 days ago
      Any senator who voted for NDAA (and intended to vote for SOPA before the outrage) is a bad pick!The only U.S. senators who voted against the NDAA are: Cardin (D-MD), Coburn (R-OK), Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Durbin (D-IL), Franken #$%$, Harkin (D-IA), Lee (R-UT), Merkley (D-OR), Paul (R-KY), Risch (R-ID), Sanders (I-VT), Wyden (D-OR)