Given that ex-Florida Governor Jeb Bush is something of a political mentor to him, and he is "exploring the possibility of running" for president in 2016, it was thought that Senator Marco Rubio would be less likely to throw his own hat into that ring.
Either mentorships aren't what they used to be, or the face of "comprehensive immigration reform" in the last Congress isn't buying that Jeb is running:
Senator Marco Rubio says he’s moving closer to a decision on whether to seek the Republican presidential nomination, but he’s not there yet.
Rubio tells National Public Radio “this is not a gut decision.”
He also says in an interview broadcast Thursday that he doesn’t have a “date in mind or a time frame in mind” for making his decision, “but certainly soon.”
Senator Rubio may or may not still have "tremendous respect" for Jeb, and it may not be "unprecedented" to have two presidential aspirants from the same part and state. But that doesn't make such a situation workable, either, particularly given that the two Floridians would be hitting up the same GOP donors, consultants, and operatives. And I've got to think that Jeb would have "dibs" on most of them.
So is Marco Rubio really running? Or is this reconnaissance designed to gauge whether Jeb is really running as well? And why should I, as somebody who has no more appetite for a Bush trilogy than anybody else on the Right, and whose intelligence is insulted at the specter of another wet-behind-the-ears freshman senator trying to parlay his minority status into presidential timbre, give a damn about any of it?
Because conservatives need as many RINOs in the GOP presidential field as possible so as to split the "establishment" vote and open the way for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to cruise to the Republican nomination. Jeb, Rubio, Chris Christie, Peter King - the more squishes, the better.
Assuming, of course, that Tea Partiers have learned from their identical 2012 mistakes that stuck the party with Mitt Romney. Blowing 2016 (assuming Barack Obama allows an election) may seem as unlikely as screwing up a wet dream, but if ever a party and its nominating electorate could manage such a feat, it's today's GOP.
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