Friday, February 12, 2016

2016 GOP Presidential primary prophecies: how do they measure up? ... by gimleteye

How well did my crystal ball work on the GOP race when I peered into the orb a year ago?

Mea culpa. I predicted Marco Rubio would whip Jeb! to the nomination, helping him through a crowded pack. ... I did better on a few other points.

I asked: "Why aren't journalists scouring the Rubio record for signs of either political accomplishment or capability?" Chris Christie took care of that.

"Marco Rubio responds to the questions about global warming by saying he is "not a scientist"," I wrote.

What Marco did say in New Hampshire to Miami resident Maribel Balbin, is that we will "mitigate" our way around sea level rise. Marco is not much of a reader. A few days ago, the UK Guardian reported: "Sea-level rise could last twice as long as human history." Mitigate-that, Marquito.

"In the jockeying for position among GOP candidates, there is no Herman Cain or Rick Santorum or Donald Trump yet," I wrote. Then I made the prediction, "Marco Rubio will help manage the GOP roller derby train so, at the right moment in the train, Jeb Bush will be pulled through the primary. For that he will be rewarded." Well ... I misjudged Rubio's character.

I am sorry, but not more sorry than Jeb for once believing in Marco Rubio.

In its entirety, here is what I wrote on April 14, 2015:

It is fascinating to listen to the mainstream media on Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio. For the most part, the descriptions of what, exactly, these two conservatives represent is sketched in sound bites cribbed from the candidates' press releases.

Why aren't journalists scouring the Rubio record for signs of either political accomplishment or capability?

Marco Rubio's only accomplishment as a state legislative leader from Miami-Dade was to help Jeb Bush's agenda during the governor's terms in Tallahassee. He wasn't an innovator. He was a facilitator who took orders well.

In the mainstream media he is being portrayed as at the same stage of his career as Barack Obama was in 2008: a state senator and one-term US senator. Come on.

Forget about rungs of a political ladder: how can their credential be compared?

Barack Obama attended Harvard Law School, where he was elected president of the law review, supervising a staff of 80 editors. Marco Rubio attended the University of Miami law school without distinction. The issue of capacity for leadership isn't a trivial pursuit.

Marco Rubio responds to the questions about global warming by saying he is "not a scientist", but that's not all: he won't even meet with scientists in his own state, the most vulnerable to sea level rise in the nation.

In the money ball game of presidential politics, Rubio's calculation is that his candidacy gets him onto the national stage. The money is going to Jeb Bush. All the mainstream media talk of tension between the Rubio and Bush camps, particularly among Florida big money GOP contributors, is fluffing for the microphones.

In the jockeying for position among GOP candidates, there is no Herman Cain or Rick Santorum or Donald Trump yet, but there will be. Marco Rubio will help manage the GOP roller derby train so, at the right moment in the train, Jeb Bush will be pulled through the primary. For that he will be rewarded.

One can imagine how Jeb would reward Marco Rubio for soldiering on his behalf: Marco Rubio represents a new generation of Republicans who want to turn the clock back to a simpler time, when American Exceptionalism was as easy to promote with voters as pasting political ads on bus stop benches in West Miami.



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