National Journal writer Josh Kraushaar
points out that Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is the perfect 2016 GOP candidate—except that no one wants him. Rubio debuted in two recent national 2016 polls at
two percent and
three percent—five percent combined!
Kraushaar laments this missed opportunity, noting that Rubio's "more compelling" than either Mitt Romney or Jeb Bush. Perhaps. If you're into politicians that always keep you guessing.
Kraushaar argues that Bush's support for immigration reform makes him a nonstarter with tea partiers. That's probably true, but apparently it's better politics to suddenly turn your back on an immigration bill that you originally helped broker, à la Rubio.
But never mind Rubio's dramatic turn on immigration. Kraushaar still thinks he'll sell well with Hispanics in 2016, noting that it's one constituency where Rubio can do better than Romney. That's a pretty low bar. Romney got all of 27 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2012, even four points lower than Sen. John McCain's dismal showing of 31 percent in 2008.
There's some other gems in the piece, like touting Rubio's foreign policy credentials and calling him "the GOP's answer to Elizabeth Warren." Really?
But what Kraushaar ignores entirely is the fact that Rubio barely registers in the polls today because he's spent the last year shrinking from public view. First, because he ran away from immigration reform as soon as the GOP base rebelled against it. Then he pushed for a 2013 government shutdown that also proved wildly unpopular—this time with the greater American public—and later tried to disown responsibility for it.
Simply put, Sen. Marco Rubio is just one public opinion poll away from rejecting any given policy position he was heralding the day before. He's proven to be the perpetual Etch A Sketch politician. Maybe that's why he's not trending in the polls.