Making the Case for Marco Rubio--Part 1

Recently, I did a brief post on the Republicans who are likely to run for president in 2016.  I expressed how I really like Governor Scott Walker, but Marco Rubio is the guy that has me most excited. 

As I continue to follow the race, I let out a BIG groan when I saw that Huckabee is going to make his announcement about getting into the race on May 5th.  I thought he was smart enough not to run this time, so much for wishful thinking.  Yet, despite his high hopes, I think that Cruz, Paul and Huckabee will all be fighting for the fringe vote.

Meanwhile, I have discovered some articles that make the case for Rubio and thought I would do a rundown of them:

-Marco Rubio leads GOP field in new national poll

-The Talented Mr. Rubio
David Brooks makes the case for Rubio and has a lot of great points.  Below are just a few excerpts:

Along comes Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. Rubio, 43, doesn’t just speak in the ardent patriotic tones common to the children of immigrants like himself. His very life is the embodiment of the American dream: parents who tended bar and worked at Kmart with a son who rose to become a United States senator. His heritage demonstrates that the American dream is open to all who come here legally and work hard. He is what many Republicans want their country to be.

1-He is, for starters, the most talented politician in the race.  In most primary battles, the crown goes to the most talented plausible candidate.
2- Rubio gives a very good speech.
3- He has an upbeat and pleasant demeanor. 
4-He has a great personal story. 
5-His policy agenda is more detailed and creative than any of his rivals. 
6-He has an overarching argument — that it is time for a new generation to reform and replace archaic structures.

Can Rubio win a general election? Well, he believes more in expanding the party than in just mobilizing the base. In his past races, he’s done better than generic Republican candidates because of his success with Hispanics. Youth is America’s oldest tradition. Who’s to say that voters won’t side for the relative outsider over the know-what-you’re-getting Hillary Clinton?

-The GOP Racing Form: First Edition
Charles Krauthammer loves Rubio as much as I do, and puts him in the top tier of candidates.

Marco Rubio Enters the 2016 Presidential Race!

It is an understatement to say that we had no exciting candidates running on the Republican side in 2008 & 2012.  There was no candidate who was actually a conservative, likeable and who had a chance at winning.

I'm pretty stoked that we have some great options this year.  There are plenty of candidates on our side that make me groan, but we have 2 exceptional ones, IMHO.  I am excited about both Marco Rubio and Scott Walker.  If push came to shove, though, I'd have to say Marco Rubio is my guy.



So, color me delighted when he entered the presidential race tonight with a great speech at the Freedom Tower in Miami.  I find him to be a solid conservative, articulate about his views, a good sense of humor, optimistic, good looking, likeable and charming.



I watched tonight's speech and then watched his speech that he made at CPAC (see above).  I went to his website and signed up to be on his email list.  I also gave a small donation, my first ever in a primary.

Tomorrow, I will do a post on all the Republican candidates for 2016 and my quick take on each of them.

A Review of The Finish: The Killing of Osama bin Laden

I have been a big fan of Mark Bowden's since I saw him on the documentary, The True Story of Black Hawk Down.  I have his book, Black Hawk Down, which is what the movie with the same name was based on, but haven't had a chance to read it yet.



After I saw the two-night special last year entitled, The Man Who Killed Usama bin Laden, I wanted to learn more and started looking for books about it.  When I saw that Mark Bowden had written one, I knew I had to read it.

Bowden did some brief biographies on some of the key players including President Obama.

He also pointed out some interesting factors that liberals have tried to deny:

--The fact that there was more evidence that Iraq had WMD's, than the evidence they had for where they thought Osama bin Laden was hiding.
--The torture of terrorists did play a part in being able to find Osama.

I thought Bowden, for the most part gave a well rounded picture of all the players involved and the piecing together of the story.

Yet, I did find myself taking issue with Bowden's assessments of President Bush and Obama.  I felt he gave way too much credit to Obama and not enough to Bush.

--He interviewed Obama extensively, and quoted him often.  Whereas, he didn't take the time to interview Bush.
--He was critical of Bush, and blatantly accused him of things that I thought were unfair and not true.
--He gave Obama a lot of credit for finding Osama bin Laden, yet, Bowden admitted that a lot of what enabled Osama to be found was advances made in technology that weren't there when Bush was president.

 All that said, I did think the book provided a good, overall picture of what lead up to and what happened when Osama bin Laden was killed.