Marco Rubio is a troll, not a senator:How the ’16 hopeful went from “serious” legislator to hot mess

[DonViejo]

Marco Rubio is a troll, not a senator: How the ’16 hopeful went from “serious” legislator to hot mess

His legislative career is basically over. Now Rubio will just spend the next year annoying his colleagues

JIM NEWELL

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was cornered into making a very Harry Reid-like move yesterday: when a couple of Republican senators insisted on thrusting forth “poison pill” amendments to the Corker-Cardin Iran nuclear review bill, and thus sending what had been an orderly, bipartisan amendment process into chaos, McConnell had to shut down debate and file for cloture. McConnell had been doing a decent job of restoring open debate and amendment to the chamber, but it was inevitable he’d run into the same problem as Reid: all it takes is a grandstander or two to bring the gentleman’s club that is the United States Senate to its knees.

While McConnell, Reid, Corker and Cardin were working out the process for amendments — and Democrats, who had filed no amendments, were willing to take votes on some Republican poison pills! — Tom Cotton and Rubio butted to the front of the line to force votes on their own amendments. One of these, from Rubio, would require any Iran deal to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. This is the sort of thing that one insists on if his goal is to kill a nuclear deal with Iran.

Democrats lost interest in voting on dumb Republican amendments after Cotton and Rubio’s hijinks, and so McConnell decided to wrap up debate. After only a few months in office, Cotton, who unfortunately will be in the Senate for the next million or so years, has fallen out of favor with his colleagues.

As has Rubio. But Rubio will not be in the Senate for the next million years! Come 2017, he will either be president of the United States, vice president of the United States, or vaguely unemployed while laying the foundation for his next presidential run. Earning the hatred of his colleagues is either a non-concern or something that he actively will be seeking to do. ”For Mr. Rubio,” the New York Times writes, “whom Mr. Cotton represented in his move to force an Israel vote, the stakes are relatively low. Mr. Rubio is leaving the Senate to run for the Republican presidential nomination and needs to curry favor with primary voters, not members of the Senate.”

Translated from Timesspeak: Boy howdy, that Marco Rubio is gonna be a hot mess from now on. Unlike Sens. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, Rubio is a lame duck. His brief tenure as someone who tried to be a practical legislator or maintain productive relationships with his colleagues is well and truly over. The only incentive he has as a member of the United States Senate now is to troll his colleagues for personal political gain, a leg up in the GOP presidential primary, and Sheldon Adelson’s money. Pretty sweet gig, eh? Who wouldn’t love a six-figure job where your duty is to produce nothing of value while maximally annoying your colleagues? (To answer your follow-up: I make five figures and my goal is to maximally annoy readers.)

more
http://www.salon.com/2015/05/06/marco_rubio_is_a_troll_not_a_senator_how_the_16_hopeful_went_from_serious_legislator_to_hot_mess/

[Aerows]

1. He's been a hot mess for a while.

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http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-sen-marco-rubio/n32900

[hrmjustin]

2. When i think of Rubio I think of this commercial.

[BlueStater]

3. He's never been a serious legislator.

He started running for president the day he was elected to the senate. His pitiful attendance record shows you how seriously he takes his job.

[DonViejo]

4. He's over his head, I think. I'm guessing he thought being a politician was gonna be easy...

I also think he's aware enough to know, he's a nitwit when it comes to politics. Beyond the glad handing and speechifying (aka bull shitting), Rubio had no idea what he was getting into. It's very, very, possible the grandees of the GOP spoke with him. Running for President is a graceful way of leaving the Senate compared to being defeated for reelection. Can you see it, the GOP's great Latin hope rejected by FL Voters.?

He'll lose the race to become the chauffeur of the GOP clown car; return to FL where he'll be taken care of, make millions and, I'm willing to bet, somehow benefit financially from the normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba. The normalization he has denounced and condemned.

Rubio's just not competent enough to swim in the shark waters of D.C.

Just my thoughts and opinions.

[BlueStater]

5. As of right now, he stands a better chance of winning the nomination than I would like.

How such a friggin' lightweight with nary a single accomplishment to his name became a top tier presidential candidate I'll never know.

[Hekate]

7. Just remember Dubya when you think it can't be done

[DonViejo]

9. I think he stands that better chance only because he's the GOP clown of the week...

and is really an unknown quantity. Once the campaign really gets underway, he'll fall by the wayside, IMO, because he is such a lightweight. He'll be devoured by media scrutiny and, I think, the GOP's inbred racism will be the nail in the coffin of his political career. Anti-Latin sentiment runs so deep within the GOP psyche, because of immigration of course, GOP voters will not trust him to do the right thing on it.

Given he's from the South, like almost all of the GOP candidates, I cannot see him being the choice for the Vice Presidency either. Of course, stranger things have happened, e.g., Dan Quayle and/or the Klondike Kardashian, Sarah Palin. And, if Jeb Bush wins the nomination, he definitely won't be selected for Veep.

[Cha]

6. Sounds like you've wrapped rubio up in his own little nutshell, Don.. Well Done!

[Hekate]

8. KnR. Wowza