WHY RUBIO LOST (according to Jonathon Last of The Weekly Standard)
” Rubio’s participation in the Gang of Eight was always his Achilles Heel, yet he seems to have finessed the issue to the point that it became only a minor liability. *Exit polls consistently showed that immigration was a lower-level concern.”
A “wise and incisive” analysis of ‘why Rubio failed’?
We think, not so much.
There is probably never a single reason for a gifted politician’s failure to obtain sufficient support to win a given election. It is usually a combination of numerous missteps, forced and unforced errors, uncontrollable events. Such is, no doubt, the general case for Senator Rubio’s electoral demise.
But if there is one overriding reason that Marco Rubio, an early favorite of many, especially in the GOP establishment, it was not, Mr. Last opines:
– the Gang of eight”
– the (voter) anger?
– the “out-of-touch elites”?
Nor was it due to possible shortcomings Mr. Last rejects:
– didn’t raise sufficient funds?
– lack of an obvious base of electoral support?
– no “geographic safe house”?
No, the erudite political analyst, Mr. Last asserts. it was none of these. He also dismisses what many political observers believe was the biggie, Marco’s “Gang Of Eight” indulgence.
So, Mr. Last, tell us. What was THE reason Marco Rubio failed rather spectacularly? What was it…enlighten us!:
“It was the fundamental dynamics of the race which were obvious and foreseeable from the start. In a field of 17 candidates, with Jeb Bush sucking up all of the early institutional support and money and with no natural early state, Rubio’s path was always incredibly narrow. To navigate it, he had to winnow the field early and consolidate establishment support quickly…”
So that was it?
Well Jonathon, allow your most humble minor league analysts of Veritaspac to disagree.
While we are in accord with your view on all the things the overriding reason was not, we do not accept your bottom line assertion. It was not the 17 candidate starting field or Marco’s failure to get out of the gate quickly and vanquish the Establishment’s “Big Three”, JEB, Christie, and Kasich.
Senator Rubio’s undoing was determined way back in the early days on the national stage…and it was not his role in the Gang of Eight.
No! It was his own blatant exercise of a practice which has become a defining characteristic of the GOP Establishment. Marco campaigned on his commitment to Tea Party and conservative principles which included opposition to amnesty for illegal immigrants and open borders and he repudiated those promises almost from the moment he stepped off the plane upon arrival in Washington D.C.
It wasn’t his role with the Gang of Eight. It was related, but ultimately, it was his ‘in-your-face’ betrayal of the people who bought his plane ticket!
For Rubio the issue of betrayal and trust remained salient and was not finessed. Joni Ernst…take heed!
*NOTE: “EXIT POLLS, AS I RECALL, INDICATED THAT JOHN KERRY HAD WON THE 2004 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
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DLH
