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What about this Marco Rubio?
Is Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate Marco Rubio becoming a threat to the seemingly invincible Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, also seeking a Senate seat?
Rubio, the more conservative candidate of the two, has won all nine straw polls that GOP county executive committees have conducted in the state – including one in Palm Beach County last night, where he won 90-17. Palm Beach County was one of the first urban areas in Florida to conduct a straw poll – where Crist would be expected to have more of an advantage.
But the Palm Beach Post reports that those GOP committee members are a pretty conservative bunch – the base, you might say – and these straw polls don’t mean that Crist has a lot to worry about. Crist led Rubio in a recent Rasmussen poll 53-31.
back to top16 Comments to “What about this Marco Rubio?”
Remember the heavyweight champion Jack Johnson?
In days when racism was endemic, he was an uppity black man with white girl friends. He drove many white Americans half crazy with rage. He kept knocking out other boxers. Every time a promising new white fighter came along, he was hailed as the “Great White Hope.”
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From a Topeka, Kansas newspaper:
U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins offered encouragement to conservatives at a town hall forum that the Republican Party would embrace a “great white hope” capable of thwarting the political agenda endorsed by Democrats who control Congress and President Barack Obama.
Jenkins, a Topeka Republican in her first term in Congress, shared thoughts about the GOP’s political future during an Aug. 19 forum at Fisher Community Center in the northeast Kansas community of Hiawatha.
In response to inquiries by The Topeka Capital-Journal, a Jenkins spokeswoman said Wednesday the congresswoman wanted to apologize for her word choice and to emphasize she had no intention of expressing herself in an offensive manner.
Jenkins told people at the Hiawatha forum the nation could benefit from inspired leadership of a group of “really sharp” young Republicans in the House, particularly Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va. Cantor was mentioned as a possible GOP vice presidential candidate in 2008 and is thought to be interested in seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2012.
“Republicans are struggling right now to find the great white hope,” Jenkins said to the crowd. “I suggest to any of you who are concerned about that, who are Republican, there are some great young Republican minds in Washington.”
A videotape of the presentation contains footage of Jenkins identifying three members of the U.S. House — Cantor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. — as future movers and shakers in the GOP. All are white, as is Jenkins.
“So don’t, you know, lose faith if you are a conservative,” Jenkins said in Hiawatha.
Her comments were in response to a question by an audience member about the prospects of developing a coherent Republican policy blueprint — perhaps something like the Contract with America released by the GOP during the 1994 election cycle. The compact was credited with broadening support for GOP candidates and producing a Republican majority in the House.
The phrase “great white hope” is frequently tied to racist attitudes permeating the United States when heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson fought in the early 1900s. Reaction to the first black man to reign as champion was intense enough to build support for a campaign to find a white fighter capable of reclaiming the title from Johnson.
Kenny Johnston, executive director of the Kansas Democratic Party, said the statement by Jenkins was regrettable at the least.
“The congressman might have avoided this problem if she had stuck to discussing constructive solutions to the health care crisis instead of lamenting the Republican Party’s search for a leader,” Johnston said.
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What color is Rubio?
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From a “Latina” blog:
For example, in Miami, former Florida State Representative Marco Rubio is running for the 2010 State Senate. Rubio who is Cuban American and fully bilingual would appear to represent the voice of Latino constituents. He may but certainly not all of them.
Rubio supports making English the official language of the United States — while he campaigns in Spanish. Of course, it’s hypocritical of Rubio to do so but he knows to reach voters who most identify with him that he has to speak the language they most like to use, which in that part of Florida is Spanish.
Can a man of Cuban descent be the next great white hope for Republicans?
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While we are thinking about this, Democrats have long had a tendency to split and schism and fight among themselves. Looking at Rubio taking a Republican but not conservative enough governor, are Republicans learning from Democrats here, just as Democrats learned from Karl Rove?
Go ahead. Eat your young. It’s very nutritious.
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He’s Hispanic.
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Random, I’m not sure why you infused the “great white hope” concept into this discussion. Are you endorsing it’s non-racist use as a generic term for a rising star?
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Candidates like Rubio are not the answer for the GOP. The GOP is not losing ground because it isn’t conservative enough. Rather, it’s losing ground because the Party has little appeal among moderates under the age of 45. Most of the people I work with are right-center on fiscal issues and left-center on social issues. The older guys are all Republicans; the younger ones are mostly Democrats. The younger Dems don’t like President Obama’s fiscal policies, but they like Jim Dobson’s social policies even less.
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The person who injected “great white hope” was Lynn Jenkins, Republican congressperson.
Here’s a picture of her from the Topeka Capital Journal. I love the manic grin on her face. Is she the next Ann Coulter? Ann is getting a bit long in the fang; we need a new pretty vicious spokesperson.
http://cjonline.com/news/state/2009-08-26/jenkins_remark_raises_eyebrows
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Mostly I thought it is funny. I am too easily amused, and I overdose at worldmagblog.
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RSD @ 8, I disagree. The GOP tried the moderate route. It didn’t work. It’s true that just having conservative candidates won’t work; it needs conservative candidates who can persuade your co-workers and others that conservatism is better for the country. Anyone can stand for less (i.e., become more moderate), but the GOP can’t beat the Democrats at that.
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Agreed RKG. Besides, why would we want to?
“Let’s win by giving up” – kind of crazy.
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The GOP tried the moderate route. It didn’t work.
As I say from time to time, I am too easily amused.
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By the GOP failure?
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RKG,
The key is to recognize that so-called “social conservatism,” as espoused by most evangelicals, is actually liberalism. It is nothing short of a vain attempt to immanentize the eschaton by creating a big nanny state that will reshape the social landscape of America along the lines of the evangelical subculture.
Frankly, if I want to experience the evangelical subculture, I’ll visit Dollywood.
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#15 has a lot of religious jargon I don’t understand, but I like the sound of it.
I am trying not to insult Christians this month. If I just did, can I claim that RSD led me astray?
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