In fairness I’ve only gotten one email about this so far and the person said that Rubio had lost their support because of his comments on Rove’s new Conservative Victory Project SuperPAC. But I’ve also read some of the comments here as well and my guess is some of you will fill the same. But I disagree.
First here’s Rubio’s comments:
David Brody: “Do you think this Conservative Victory Project is a good idea?”
Senator Marco Rubio: Yes. I think they’re both fine. I want to say a couple things in fairness. Karl Rove was one of my earliest supporters even when I was thirty points down in the polls he wrote me a check, he told people he was supporting me, he helped me in my race and I was thirty or forty points down. That’s important for fairness to say that. Ultimately, when I was the nominee American Crossroads came in to Florida and spent a lot of money on my candidacy and we’re grateful for that. But by the same token, I would not have been elected without Tea Party support. I would not have had a chance to even win the Primary without all these folks out there who rallied to the cause of defending our Constitution, limiting government and supporting our traditional values and I’m forever grateful for that as well. They both have a place in American politics.
I think the concern that people have is that somehow people in Washington in the Beltway are going to decide that someone can’t get elected. That’s the argument they used against me and I don’t believe that’s Karl Rove’s intention but I think the concern that people have is that people from Washington are going to come in and decided ‘so and so’ is unelectable, somebody else is more electable we have to go with them and I think that’s a valid concern. There have been some candidates that have been nominated that have not done well in the General Election stage. Perhaps we need to do a better job working through that to ensure that doesn’t happen in the future but I also think we have to be very careful that we’re not discouraging grassroots types candidates from running because often times they get elected and do a pretty good job.
I hope I’m doing a pretty good job. I know Mike Lee and Rand Paul and others who were not supposed to win their races are doing a good job as well so for every story out there about some candidate that didn’t turn out well I can show you one that did. Ted Cruz in this Election cycle so I think it’s important. We’re all on the same team. We’re all working for the same goal. I think we need to take a deep breath and understand that at the end what we all want is to elect the most conservative people possible to come up here, fight to defend the Constitution, protect our liberties and move our country forward.”
Rubio’s answer was very diplomatic and in my opinion, smart. I’ve said before and I’ll reiterate again that Rubio is running for president in 2016. He’s not looking to burn ANY bridges between now and then because he’s going to need all the support he can get. It would do his candidacy no good to become part of a war within the GOP.
And besides all of this, Karl Rove was an early supporter of Rubio. You expect him to throw Rove under the bus now? And if you do, let me ask you one question. Did Sarah Palin lose your support when she endorsed RINO-Y Republican Establishment candidate John McCain for Senate in 2010? No, she didn’t because you knew there was more to the story than just the idea that she was selling out her principles.
I’m just saying there’s more to this story as well. Rubio was just trying to get through the question without stepping on landmines and along the way he even reiterated that the concern people have about Washington sticking its big nose in these grassroots races is very legitimate. And he cautioned against allowing Washington to do that.
Remember, Rubio fought the establishment in 2010 and won. He’s no sellout.