Rubio 'Not Interested' in VP Spot; Supporters Dub Him Party's 'Savior'
Freshman Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is dodging calls to consider a 2012 vice presidential slot, saying that he has "no interest" in the position. However, supporters and party activists continue to put the pressure on the GOP freshman senator in the hopes that he will reconsider.
Rubio fielded questions about the 2012 race after a Tuesday speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library stating, "It's a great honor to be thought of that way, but, I have no interest in serving as vice president for anyone who could possibly live all eight years of the presidency."
The answer was given in response to moderator Gerald Parksy's question, "If your mother asked you to accept the VP spot, what would you say?"
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Parksy is not the only one expressing interest in Rubio to consider a vice presidential office. Many believe the Cuban-American, who just happened to catch former First Lady Nancy Reagan as she began to fall before yesterday's speech, can also put America's fallen economy back on track.
The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, told The Christian Post earlier this month that Rubio would energize the Republican base and draw Hispanics to reconnect to the party's conservative values.
Despite the senator's disinterest, Rodriguez told CP Wednesday, "I’m just excited to see a 40-year-old Hispanic candidate, son of immigrants, emerge on the national platform."
If Rubio were to be chosen as the GOP vice presidential candidate, he said it would convey "the message that America is not an anti-Latino, anti-immigrant society."
It would also ensure that President Barack Obama would be unseated November 2012, he said.
"It’s impossible for the Republican Party to take the White House without the Hispanic population," Rodriguez said. He noted that President George W. Bush won the White House in 2004 with 44 percent of the Hispanic vote despite what seemed to be an easy race for Democratic Sen. John Kerry.
If Rubio is selected for the Republican vice president nomination, Rodriguez says he will ultimately "emerge as the savior of the party."
Website Draft Marco Rubio for President 2012 challenges visitors to review web videos of the Florida senator speaking on the Senate floor and talk shows, and then ask themselves "Is anyone better qualified to articulate the lengthy case against Barack Obama?"
The unnamed supporter who runs the site says the current Republican candidates seeking entry into the 2012 race do not "inspire Americans in the way necessary to beat an incumbent president."
Rubio, on the other hand, "can rally this nation to be great."
Rodriguez calls a Rubio 2012 presidential campaign "pre-mature." If Obama is re-elected in 2012, he said he anticipates current New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and Rubio – either as a vice presidential or presidential candidate – to top the Republican ticket in the next four years.
As for next year, he says if either Mitt Romney or Texas Gov. Rick Perry wins the GOP nomination, he anticipates Rubio's phone to ring.
During his Tuesday night speech, Rubio talked about his Cuban heritage and said his father left for America because "he knew America was special."
Rubio also spoke about growing up in Reagan's America. He also evoked Reagan's presidency to criticize the government's current role in America's economy.
"The role that government plays now in America cannot be sustained the way it is," he warned.
He argued that today's growing focus on social programs have "actually weakened us as a people."
"It was institutions and society that assumed the role of taking care of one another. If someone was sick in your family, you took care of them. If a neighbor met misfortune, you took care of them," Rubio argued.
The government's massive spending programs, he said, have eroded those social bonds and undermined America's prosperity.
Rubio conceded that America's current economic woes began under President Bush. Yet he criticized President Obama for accelerating "policies that were already in place and were doomed to fail" and "making the day of reckoning come faster."
He encouraged listeners to embrace free enterprise over "redistribution of wealth" to craft a better government.
CP contacted Rubio's Orlando and Washington, D.C. offices to ask if any of the current GOP nomination campaigns have contacted the senator. His spokesman did not return calls prior to press time.
