O-SenseInspired by a recent article in this newsletter, I’m adopting the same format which was used to undermine Donald Trump’s candidacy to offer my support for Marco Rubio’s nomination as the Republican candidate for President.
Encouraged by a very unexpected strong showing in Iowa, Rubio has been vaulted into second place in New Hampshire polling. This is especially meaningful because the campaign has been largely focused on the states which make up the Super Tuesday (Mar 1) primaries.
Essentially what it tells us is that there’s an appetite for a candidate like Rubio, someone whose message has consistently promoted a fresh approach to America’s challenges. While other leading candidates are embroiled in “undermine-each-other” fray, Rubio has stayed above it by directing his criticism at potential Democratic nominees - precisely where it belongs.
Wrangling the whole of the Republican party to get behind a single candidate is no easy task. It’s easy to see why there is so much division - isolated camps and key issue voters, but it’s also easy to see why so many have remained undecided. They were waiting - waiting for a candidate who could unify the base and gather in the factions.
Rubio has risen to the challenge. If any of our candidates can unite the spectrum, he can. If you fall into any of these categories, consider how Rubio is right, right now.
If you are a conservative, don’t forget that for most of Rubio’s time in Congress, he has seen as a leader in the conservative movement. One of his first efforts in the Senate was to reduce federal employment by 10% through attrition. As recently as 2015, Rubio was working withUtah Sen. Mike Lee to offer a tax plan with relief specifically for the middle class and to do away with our broken approach to welfare.
If you are a party Republican, you have to recognize that the lifeblood of our party is growth -- appeal to new constituencies. Rubio draws in young voters and Hispanic voters. Embracing him as a candidate is embracing our future -- the young and ambitious who want more than the entitlement life the Democrats keep promising.
If you still wish Mitt Romney were running, remember that Rubio was one of Romney’s most diligent surrogates -- genuinely and actively campaigning for Mitt from very early on, just as Mitt was a supporter of Rubio’s senate campaign in Florida. Furthermore, the bulk of Romney’s 2012 campaign staff and advisors are vigilantly waving the MR flag.
If you are a pragmatist and want a winner, can I remind you that we need Florida? We need 270 electoral votes and Florida is home to 27 of them. That’s 10% right there that you can put into our column. Also, I can direct you to dozens of articles which point to Republicans’ ineffectiveness in reaching young voters and Hispanic voters. Rubio also cleans up in those categories. He’s our guy.
If you love America, you know that liberals want to see America wane in the global spectrum. For too many years we’ve had a President who’s content and even complicit in lessening our country’s stature. Of all the candidates, none more fully understands America’s place in history and our potential in the future. He can’t give a single speech without referencing the choice before us and “what kind of country we’ll be.” If you want a candidate who loves America unabashedly, who sees and wants to realize our promise, that candidate is Marco Rubio.
(Note: Idaho Politics Weekly welcomes other guest columns on elections and politics.)
Brad Christensen is a member of the Ammon City Council. He is a Wealth Management Advisor at Yellowstone Partners and a former aide to Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
