Rubio’s not delusional on immigration – he’s running for president

marcorubioCan someone be genuine and sincere about fixing a problem while setting themselves up for a presidential run in 2016? Normally I’d say ‘no’ given the opportunistic and power-hungry crowd we have in DC. But call me idealistic if you want – I think Rubio can be that guy.

It’s true, our immigration system is broken and our borders are wide open – and I think Rubio really wants to fix these problems. Absolutely, I do.

Some of you, though, think he’s delusional for trying to work with Democrats to make this happen. But he’s not delusional, nor naïve. He knows Obama and the Democrats will never sign off on a plan that actually secures the border and fixes immigration. Rubio doesn’t expect this to be fixed in the next four years.

So why is he doing this? Because he’s running for president in 2016.

Notice how he’s put himself virtually mano-a-mano against Obama on this issue. He’s the Republican leading the charge and that puts him in the spotlight in quite a large way. And he’s been everywhere lately – on TV, radio. People who are really interested in this issue will take note and won’t soon forget.

So why amnesty – a path to citizenship for illegals? Honestly, it sounds more compassionate than ‘self deport’ – at least after it’s been demagogued to death by Democrats in the last election season. And I don’t think he wants to be the ‘self deport’ guy either.

I think he’s really OK with a path to citizenship as long as we never have to do it again, which means really and truly securing the border. He’s been pretty clear.

But remember, he knows this isn’t something that will happen until we win back the Senate and the White House.

So yes, I think much of this ‘bipartisan plan’ is about appearance in the here-and-now in order to set himself up for a presidential run in 2016. As I said before, I’d normally be pretty cynical of most candidates doing this. But I truly believe Rubio really wants to solve the immigration problem and get America on the right path and he can’t do that unless he wins.

I also think he wants to win back the Latino vote from the Democrats, especially considering he will be labeled the Latino candidate by the media. It would be a great power-play if he can do that.

I guess we’ll find out in 2016.


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