I think it would be a mistake to dismiss...

[one_voice]

Rubio.

He's young, he has some experience, he speaks well, he has good back story, not unlike Obama.

He's a fresh face.

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss him.

[yeoman6987]

1. I don't think anyone is

Well the water thing is funny but when things get serious the water thing will fade and real issues will emerge. A little water humor for a day or two won't distract the real goal of ensuring he does not make it to the White House.

[one_voice]

3. Yeah, the water thing is funny...

I think it's a nervous thing.

It will be interesting when the debates get here.

[peace13]

2. Remember his TV debut?

Sweating and gulping water with each lie! It would take a lot of training but ...they have time.

[one_voice]

5. Yeah, I do...

it was disastrous.

[Atman]

4. He speaks well? Seriously?

He mispronounces and has to repeat every other word, especially those that are supposed to be his key applause lines. If only half of the flubs can be dismissed as "Freudian slips," he's still screwing up the other half. I didn't expect to like this speech, but I didn't expect it to be this horrible, either.

[bigwillq]

6. CT Governor Malloy is a horrible speaker, imo

and he got elected twice.

[joeybee12]

14. And Rubio was elected in Florida...

Because thye're both known on a more local basis...someone as stupid and incoherent in public like Rubio will have trouble making people unfamiliar with him want to vote for him.

[Atman]

35. Florida is the "Clown Car" of states.

Once Rubio hops out of the car and does his juggling routine for the rest of the country, he's finished.

[former9thward]

23. Have you heard the number of "aahhs" Obama says.

If I had a dollar .....

[bettyellen]

40. Lol, you think speaking is one of Obama's weak spots? Hee heeeeee

[former9thward]

42. I guess you have never heard his press conferences.

[bettyellen]

43. Ridiculous. He thinks on his feet and slays the BS better than anyone holding his

Office since Kennedy. Yup. Ridiculous.
Always see you here hating on Dems, what is up with that?

[former9thward]

54. I said he says 'ahh' a lot in pressers.

If you don't hear that then you are turning a deaf ear to them. I will ignore your personal attack.

[BeyondGeography]

51. He's lost without a teleprompter!

Just ask Sarah Palin, she'll tell ya!

[former9thward]

53. Did not say that.

You did. But he does not speak well in pressers.

[BeyondGeography]

58. You can tell when he's bored/uninterested

Re-run the post mid-term presser if you doubt his abilities when he is suitably engaged.

[m-lekktor]

55. oh i know. I can't listen to him speak for that reason.

drives me NUTS!!! I haven't listened to an Obama speech since his first year in office, the aaaahs are horrible.

[yardwork]

7. I once dismissed W. /nt

[brush]

8. He's a lightweight who will be overshadowed by Bush

His raison d'etre for running is his Latino heritage but Bush matches him in that with his Latina wife and son.

Rubio won't even win in Florida as the teabaggers are already dumping him.

[KamaAina]

11. There is a school of thought that he is running interference for Jebbie

by splitting the teabagger vote.

[former9thward]

25. If that is all he was doing he would run for re-election to the Senate

at the same time. He is not.

[KamaAina]

9. He's the best of the lot so far

admittedly, that isn't saying much.

[spanone]

10. not ready for primetime

[brush]

39. Thanks for posting that photo. I laugh every time I see it. nt

[OKNancy]

12. I might worry if I thought he would get the nomination

but he doesn't stand a chance. Too many Republicans don't like him, he doesn't have enough money, and he isn't crazy enough.

[H2O Man]

13. Definitely recommended.

It's not a good idea to dismiss any of the republicans.

The reasons you noted are solid reasons to NOT dismiss Rubio. While I expect he would get the VP nod with any republican but Jeb, I think he would get more votes for the ticket than the average VP candidate.

Thank you for this.

[NightWatcher]

15. "not unlike Obama" Your concern is noted

[cali]

16. "your concern is noted" is such dog shit. It's just an ever lame attempt to smear. Sickening.

[NightWatcher]

18. No the "fear of Rubio" is horseshit. Are you seriously scared of Rubio?

He's nothing like Obama. He's a dribbling moron who could not speak for five minutes without fumbling over a bottle of water.


On edit: How is pointing out unfounded concern "dog shit". This OP is very weak and seems to be fishing for fear where there should be none.

[FSogol]

19. No, the smear was saying, "not unlike Obama" when referring to a swarmy repuke. n/t

[one_voice]

31. That's not at all how I meant it. n/t

[L0oniX]

32. Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE Explanation: I love Cali

[cali]

50. LOL. a tiny minority, but nice to see. My thanks.

[H2O Man]

20. It's important to

put that in context. I do not believe that "one voice" is saying that she/he thinks that their stories are similar, much less the two men are. Rather, the media has been saying that Rubio has an appeal to republicans, similar to what Senator Barack Obama's appeal was to human beings in 2007-08. That can be true, without it meaning that the character of the two men are similar.

[NightWatcher]

24. I predict Rubio to be the first to drop out, if he hasn't already

He has ZERO appeal down here to republicans and only beat Charlie "What Party am I" Christ for a Senate spot.

[H2O Man]

34. Right.

Do you think he's a VP possibility for the republicans?

[Cha]

48. lol

[one_voice]

29. Yes, thank you....

I guess I worded it poorly.

I'm a huge fan of President Obama's and would never compare him to the likes of Rubio.

[one_voice]

26. Excuse me?....

I voted for President Obama twice. I think he did a good job as president.

I thought Rubio ripped Obama and tried to play 'the only in America' card. He's not to be trusted---he used his dead dad...etc....

I do have concern, real concern, I don't want a republican in the white house EVER.

[NightWatcher]

27. Rubio is the weakest repuke out there

He is no real threat to Obama. I am not concerned about him in the slightest, and I don't believe anyone else should be concerned either.

[Atman]

36. Is Obama running again?

I missed that.

[Autumn]

57. How very strange.

[Autumn]

56. He may not be a threat to Obama but Hillary is a different story. She's the

one running this time. I dismissed George Bush. I won't make the mistake of dismissing any republican ever again. We do that at our own peril.

[CTyankee]

17. I don't think so. Don't you remember the water bottle swig after the SOTU speech?

ICK.

He's got to lay down some more serious tracks before he can be considered serious...the guy doesn't have the charisma or the ability to charm that Obama had and has still. It just ain't there...

[Warren DeMontague]

21. Indeed. For one thing,

he's obviously well hydrated.

[madokie]

22. He's a fucking idiot

The last time we had one of them we're still climbing out of the hole he left us in. Fuck Marco Rubio and the republiCON horse he rode in on

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

28. Never dismiss a political party that in EVERY presidential election will suppress enough

votes to in effect steal 3-5% of the vote.

[JI7]

30. i have never heard him speak well

[bravenak]

33. He is a terrible speaker.

Lacks confidence, uses bad talking points, cannot connect with a broad spectrum of people. And he's anti cuba and we wanna be friends with Cuba.

[Cha]

47. Excellent points, brave! "And he's anti cuba and we wanna be friends with Cuba."

[madamesilverspurs]

37. Yeah, but 'cept...

He's better known than Obama was, been covered more extensively than O was prior to announcing. He announced to a roomful of supporters in a climate-controlled room in Florida; Obama announced to a huge crowd outdoors in bitter cold Chicago. It could be argued that Rubio selected a room that would be easy to fill...

[Art_from_Ark]

41. I think it would be a mistake to dismiss any of those Republicans

After all, both Reagan and Bush Jr. got to stay in the White House for 8 years. And people in California swooned over an air-headed celebrity who was running for governator.

[Behind the Aegis]

44. I don't dismiss any of them.

Remember Bush? DU hadn't been born, but I remember reading how he wasn't a real contender and Gore was a shoe-in. How'd that go? You are correct not to dismiss anyone because, sadly, when it comes to voting, it seems the crazier the candidate on the right, the more the right is energized; parts of the left are often too busy trashing their own candidate to notice.

[BlueStater]

45. Experience?

You mean his four years as a senator where he's accomplished absolutely nothing of note?

I don't dismiss anybody, but the man is a total empty suit. I find it ironic that he's presenting himself as a candidate of the future when all of his viewpoints, from Cuba to gay marriage, are completely stuck in the past.

And, personally, I have never once found him impressive as a speaker. The media is obviously seeing something I don't.

[Cha]

46. Guess you haven't heard.. he lied about his back story. Surprise!

10 Things You Need to Know About Marco Rubio

More..
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/04/ten-things-you-need-know-about-marco-rubio

Rubio trashes Obama's Cuba policy while fleeing his own scandal

MOre..
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/227569-rubio-trashes-obamas-cuba-policy-while-fleeing-his

[Capt. Obvious]

49. 538 on Rubio

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s campaign, which officially kicks off Monday, has so far attracted paltry support from Republican voters, according to polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, as well as nationally. He’s down near Chris Christie! Yet, when we talk about him in the FiveThirtyEight office, we usually put Rubio in the top tier, in front of everyone except Jeb Bush and Scott Walker, the two candidates at the top of the polls.

Why? Rubio is both electable and conservative, and in optimal proportions. He’s in a position to satisfy the GOP establishment, tea party-aligned voters and social conservatives. In fact, Rubio’s argument for the GOP nomination looks a lot like Walker’s, and Rubio is more of a direct threat to the Wisconsin governor than he is to fellow Floridian Bush.

To win a presidential nomination, you need to make it past the party actors (i.e., elected officials and highly dedicated partisans). You can have all the strong early poll numbers in the world (hello, Rudy Giuliani), and your candidacy can still fail if party bigwigs come out against you. Rubio has a real chance of surviving — or even winning — the invisible (or endorsement) primary.

Rubio doesn’t have the flaws the other two official GOP candidates have. He’s a hawk on foreign policy (with an 89 percent conservative foreign policy score in National Journal’s vote ratings), so he’ll be able to avoid the pitfalls of Rand Paul’s candidacy. And Rubio isn’t anywhere near as extreme as Ted Cruz and has not alienated his fellow senators, so we shouldn’t expect mainstream party members coming out of the woodwork to stop Rubio. But he’s a solid conservative; statistical ideological ratings put him right in line with the average Republican in the 113th Congress.

....

538

[B Calm]

52. How many Cuban Americans are baptized Mormon?

[workinclasszero]

59. The teabaggers are the ones dismissing him

The baggers don't think he's a true believer plus he's brown.

[tammywammy]

60. I agree.

He shouldn't be easily dismissed. He's one of the stronger candidates in the GOP field. It seems people fear a Bush-Rubio split in the primary voting. I also wonder when Walker is going to jump in. A friend of mine really thinks Walker will win the nomination over Bush.