Marco Just Isn't Up To It

Photo by Connor Corpora

I get it- Republican operatives want Marco Rubio to be a thing. He's young, he's attractive, he smiles a lot more than most of their candidates, he's Hispanic, and he's from Florida. He's basically their dream candidate, on paper. For months, they and the Washington "beltway media" have consistently predicted that "this will be the Rubio bump" after just about anything they perceived as going well for him. It never happened though, at least not until he got third place in Iowa, and gave the most ridiculous "victory" speech for a non-winner I've ever seen. Then it seemed like the process was moving his way. Endorsements, money, big donors, they all were coming over to Marco. It seemed like he would rise to second in New Hampshire and then run off with the nomination.

Of course, along the way, Chris Christie happened, and the Jersey Governor's last stand included a complete dismantling of Rubio on the debate stage last Saturday. Once again, under the spotlight of being a favorite, Rubio failed to actually impress voters, and in this case actually damaged himself. Christie called him out, and destroyed any credibility that Rubio had.

The truth is that Rubio just doesn't do well under scrutiny. It's not just that he looks young, or has to fight biases against him, it's that he's actually just not that smart. He doesn't think well on his feet, and his strength is that he memorizes what his handlers tell him, and never strays off of that. The comparison of him to President Obama is laughable in part because President Obama is very good at responding to attacks in debates. Rubio just isn't very good if he has to leave his script. In many ways, I think Rubio knows this and is self-conscious of his own abilities, which causes things like his "water moment," or yesterday, when he blamed the media for his failings. Rubio just doesn't do well when put up to scrutiny, which is why he has never broken out away from a chaotic field of Republicans.

On paper, Marco Rubio excites Republicans. In reality, he's not a very good candidate. He says dumb things, and fails in the clutch. Republican operatives in Washington may see an opportunity in him, but reality says that won't go so well. Democrats don't fear him so much anymore, and frankly they shouldn't.