Rubio’s Rising Star can be Snuffed out by Vice-Presidency

“My country in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived.”- John Adams, first Vice President of the United States

Throughout last week in his many interviews during the Florida Primary Senator Marco Rubio stated emphatically that he would neither seek nor accept the nomination to the Republican Party’s presidential ticket for Vice President.  Though this obviously caught little attention in the shadow of Governor Romney’s victory it may actually have more important ramifications to the party and the nation’s long term health.  As the prohibitive favorite for the party’s VP nod Rubio has not only gone against the grain of his Republican brethren, but will be doing a service to the country and his own aspirations if he stays true to his convictions on the matter.

Long before the Republican presidential race kicked off this year Senator Marco Rubio has dominated the conversation of political pundits, right and left, as the clear choice for Vice-President.  His 2010 senatorial win over former Florida governor Charlie Crist immediately shot him into the stratosphere of rising GOP stars.  The grass roots, tea party fueled election win in which Rubio entered the race polling 30 points behind the Republican governor was one of the “feel good” stories of the 2010 elections; if there ever was one in politics.  His campaign style of straight talk on the issues put his conservative bona fides on display so much so that once the lead was taken over Crist the young upstart never had to look back.  His back story of Cuban exile parents working long hard hours to give their son a better life so great that it has led him to the United States Senate cries out that the American dream is still alive and well.  He has the youth, good looks, conservative principles, and articulate speaking style that would benefit the presidential ticket.  His position on said hypothetical ticket would also be the first of any Hispanic in our nation’s history.  This would come as a huge electoral boon to the Republican Party who has lost much ground in this voter demographic since President Bush’s election in 2004.  But, as stated in an interview this week Senator Rubio does not want to be the Vice-Presidential nominee, and will say no if asked to serve.  While many may say this is detrimental to the party, I think it Rubio’s best chance to have any lasting impact on the direction the United States is going.

Politicians often feign such modest denials when asked if they are running for office.  Since the founding of the Republic, and even further back to Julius Caesar, the trait of ambition has been a scarlet letter for those seeking high office.  In most cases such posturing is purely strategic for this very reason, but it does not seem so in Rubio’s case.  He took office less than a year ago and has actual plans to try to govern.  Immediately abandoning his duties of the office his fellow Floridians elected him to for the national spotlight would not only be deceitful but on a larger scale counterproductive to the conservative movement.

Much of the idea that Rubio would be the best choice for Vice President is based on what he brings to the ticket from a strategic point of view, not one concerned with actual governance.   While Rubio does have some electoral weight behind him, specifically because of his heritage and status in the state of Florida, Rubio serves no purpose as a Vice-President in functionality.  He has no experience in Washington that lends to the idea he knows how to maneuver inside the beltway and could advise an outsider like Romney or Cain.  He has no foreign policy credibility like Dick Cheney, which could help the President navigate the rough waters of world affairs.  Without these credentials he’d have no position of power inside the administration.  We’d be putting one of the true, new conservative leaders of the early 21^st century on the back bench, posing for photo ops for four years, holding the water for a President who most likely would never seek his advice.  Why banish him to the darkness of the OEMB when he can be a major player in the bright lights of the Senate?   This country has urgent maters that need the attention of the federal government in all three branches.  A President Romney or Santorum could have a valuable ally in the Senate, a conservative who could rally the party in the often despised legislative branch, while simultaneously making a name for himself if that Presidential ambition does kick in in the distant future.

And what of the off chance that President Obama is re-elected?  Rubio could prove to be an even more powerful force in the Senate, a rival to the President who is Hell-bent on moving this country toward the social democratic styling of Europe.  If Rubio was the second name on the ticket that lost in the bid to unseat President Obama it’d be an albatross around his neck for the remainder of Obama’s presidency.  Any time he’d make an attack on the president’s policies from the Senate floor it’d be a painful reminder that he could not get the job done in 2012.  This instance would be akin to the exchange between President Obama and Senator McCain at the 2010 Healthcare Summit.  “The election’s over Marco” is all the American people would have to hear.  If he stayed off the ticket he could challenge the President from a position of power over his flawed policies, and work with him on the few they may agree on.  Whether as an ally to a Republican president or a rival to President Obama Senator Rubio would be a much more valuable to the Party and more importantly the Republic as a Senator with a voice, as opposed to a Vice President with a smile.

In 1900, New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt was approached with the offer of being President William McKinley’s running mate.  He was the hero of the Spanish American war, a national icon who had already held numerous positions in federal and state governments, and was governor of one of the biggest and most prosperous states in the Union.  He would serve as a positive jolt to an aging McKinley, who if he won would be entering his second and final term as President.  The stage was set for Roosevelt’s coronation in four years, and the party knew it.  But Roosevelt resisted.  He still had work to be done in New York, battling the state legislature and intent on governing his state as effectively as he could, as the people elected him to do so.  This is Rubio’s stance right now.  Though his eventual nomination worked out for Roosevelt, he was ready to reject the Vice-Presidency even with the closest guarantee you’ll ever see in politics to being elected President in the following election.  The only guarantee for Marco Rubio if he is elected Vice-President is barring a massive tragedy he would not be President for at least 8 years, and in those 8 years would do little to shape the fate of the country.

Like Roosevelt at the turn of the century, Marco Rubio is recognized by his party as a valuable asset to their agenda, and in turn the prosperity of the country.  Less than a year into his role as Senator he has been a strong proponent in the Senate for the conservative principles that can help bring the United States up from the shackles of statism.  Those who feel he should be Vice-President unfortunately do not see the big picture.  Though he got his start in the government in 2000, Marco Rubio’s national career began in fall of 2010.  He represented the high point of the crest of talent in the tidal wave that was about to hit Washington, ready to wash away the disastrous policies that helped cause this mess in the first place.  Why cut short what could be a great career after only two years into his federal tenure by relegating him to a position which traditionally holds little power in the governance of the country?   Such a move would be an enormous waste of leadership, a quality in elected officials the people of the United States desperately crave.

– John P. Burns