Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Florida Senator Marco Rubio: Setting the record straight for the New York Times ... by gimleteye

In a June 19th column, "Rand and Rubio", NY Times columnist Ross Douthat writes, "As The American Spectator’s Jim Antle pointed out last month, Rubio and Paul have followed similar paths to prominence. Both were discouraged from running for the Senate by party leaders." While Doughat's editorial doesn't amplify -- of now US Senator Rubio being an "outsider"--, quoting the Spectator in this case shows how the media can echo a false assertion until it carries the imprimatur of truth. Since Rubio is being cultivated by insiders to run on a presidential ticket, the point must not be lost in translation.

There is no evidence -- none-- that Marco Rubio was "discouraged from running for the Senate by party leaders." The opposite is the case, as our readers know. Heck, you don't have to be one of our readers: if you had read the mainstream media closely, you would have understood that it was then Governor Charlie Crist who ran as an outsider, carrying a moderate Republican wing that had been grafted onto the state GOP with baling wire and chewing gum. Rubio represented the core of the GOP that was biding its time until the dagger could be firmly inserted in the Crist campaign and twisted on the way out. Crist, the anti-Bush, got what was coming to him.

There are reasons right wing strategists prefer to paint Rubio as an outsider. For one, it positions him "to the rescue" of the party. To suggest Rubio is a populist coming in from the cold is rubbish. One thing the Republicans do well is get their message frames straight: Rubio not only plays well to the TV cameras, he delivers sound bites flawlessly (and without question by the mainstream press) and can garner the short attention span of the Tea Party that is, itself, moved by the GOP like a herd of cattle to the sound of a cannon.

Yesterday, I likened GOP positions to Russian nesting dolls. In Rubio's case, he fits in neatly somewhere in the middle where the doll he nests within would be a figurine of Jeb Bush. Outsider? Not by a long shot.

Note to NY Times: it is always perilous to "quote" The American Spectator.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can only hope that what goes around comes around and Marco and Jeb get what is coming to them.

sundayniagara said...

Marco Julio?

Anonymous said...

Your claim that "there's no evidence -- none -- that Marco Rubio was 'discouraged from running for the Senate by party leaders,'" is wrong.

Although the Crist campaign basically imploded in 2010, resulting in Crist declaring himself an independent and moving out of the Republican party, Charlie Crist had been the GOP darling up to that point. MArco Rubio was, in fact, an outsider during most of his campaign.

When he first began, Marco Rubio was being outraised and outspent by Crist in record numbers. Crist was bringing in millions, while Rubio languished in the low hundred thousands. Don't forget that the Florida GOP chairman was Crist's hand picked selection: Jim Greer.

State party leaders, and Crist himself as the defacto head of the Florida Republican Party as the highest ranking Republican elected official, on many occasions tried to "persuade" Rubio to abandon his bid and instea run for Attorney General. Look at the contribution records from the early to mid points of the contest. There you'll see the most prominent GOP insiders in the Crist camp. True, Jeb Bush was with Rubio, but Al Cardenas, Jim Greer, Zacharias Zacharias, et al. were all with Rubio.

And don't forget that the Republican party spent money on Crist and endorsed Crist as its candidate long BEFORE the primary. Rubio was ocnsidered a dark horse candidate who, according to conventional wisdom, was doomed to fail.

Sure, Rubio began to experience success in his campaign in late 2009 and slowly but surely built momentum inside the party to the point that Crist was forced to declare hiself an independent in early 2010 (sometime around March or April???) and after that things changed for Rubio.

But to say that Rubio was the GOP candidate, that he had the support of party leaders, and that he WASN'T DISCOURAGED FROM RUNNING is plain wrong.

The tide has changed and Rubio is now an "insider", but it wasn't that long ago (just over one year ago) that Rubio was an "outsider".

Anonymous said...

This is why it's important to preview and edit before publishing. Aside from a few typos, the sentence below should end with "were all with CRIST." Not "Rubio". I apologize for the typo.

"True, Jeb Bush was with Rubio, but Al Cardenas, Jim Greer, Zacharias Zacharias, et al. were all with Rubio."

Anonymous said...

I wish they would ALL stop the bullshit and, at least, have the testicles to stand up for what they believe in. Marco Rubio is Jeb Bush's political goodchild, the Tea Party candidate, the Sergio-Pino/Jose Cancela marionette, and most of all:THE REPUBLICAN PARTY SWEETHEART. This is what makes fighting the Republicans, at this time, like fighting a cloud: they have no shame, no integrity, no sense of decency, and no limit for lying! How in the living hell can anyone fight a group that knows no scruples? How can anyone fight a group that is AMORAL?

Burrell said...

What do you mean there is no evidence that the Florida GOP discouraged Rubio?

The Florida GOP chairman was Jim Greer, who was handpicked by Charlie Crist. Greer, Crist's interim Senate pick George LeMieux, and the entire state party apparatus were firmly behind Charlie Crist who was the popular Republican governor seeking the the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.

Are you saying Greer supported and encouraged Rubio, an ex-legislator, to run against his frontrunner buddy Crist? If so, you are engaging in revisionist history.

Anonymous said...

And you, Burrell, are the best example of what a shameless GOP rear-end orifice is! AMORAL LIAR!

Burrell said...

"[GOP Chair] Greer, a key figure in Mr. Crist's prior gubernatorial campaign, said the candidate 'has come to the conclusion that if he's going serve the people and solve the problems that people are experiencing, he needs to do it from the U.S. Senate.'"

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to Seek Senate Seat
Wall Street Journal
May 12, 2009

Burrell said...

Here is an account from the Miami Herald, May. 16, 2009.

Hillsborough County's Republican Party passed a resolution Thursday demanding that the state party remain neutral. Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, Pasco and Hernando counties might follow suit.

The wave of resolutions was fueled by reports that Greer was talking with GOP higher-ups about whether to invoke party ''Rule 11'' to expressly endorse Crist.

Greer couldn't be reached for comment. Republican Party of Florida spokeswoman Katie Gordon said the discussions about ''Rule 11'' were preliminary. She downplayed the state party's potential involvement by pointing out that the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee endorsed Crist's candidacy within minutes of the governor's campaign announcement Tuesday.