I was talking to a Latino friend of mine about Rubio a few months ago and I predicted that Rubio would eventually go the “we Cubans aren’t like you wetbacks” route and fuck up whatever chance he had of helping Republicans with Latino voters at the national level. Sure enough:
That ethnic calculus was further complicated by records, reported by The Washington Post last week, showing that Rubio had incorrectly portrayed his parents as exiles who fled Cuba after the rise of Fidel Castro. In fact, their experience more closely resembles that of millions of non-Cuban immigrants: They entered the United States 2 1 / 2 years before Castro’s ascent for apparent economic reasons.
Rubio made the exile story a central theme of his political biography, telling one audience during his Senate campaign, “Nothing against immigrants, but my parents are exiles.” A video, apparently produced for the conservative site RedState.com, shows black-and-white footage of Castro as Rubio speaks.
Even after the new reports of his parents’ entry, Rubio has said he remains the “son of exiles,” saying his parents had hoped to return to the island but did not because of the rise of a Communist state.
But in elevating exile roots over the apparent reality of his parents’ more conventional exodus, Rubio risks setting up a tension point with the country’s Hispanic voters — most of whom are Mexican American and have immigrant friends or ancestors who did not have access to the virtually instant legal status now granted to Cubans who make it into the United States.
“If he does take that mantle, there’ll be a lot of clarification that he’ll have to make on a whole lot of issues,” said Lionel Sosa, a longtime GOP strategist.
Rubio has future Bayh/Tauzin K Street douchebag written all over him, not future vice-president. I’d say what a fucking idiot for not keeping his mouth shut and identifying with other Latinos, but he’s probably better off this way than at taking a real shot at being the great brown hope. He’s a bilingual Paul Ryan, at best.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
I always like it when you return to the classics. Have you read Life? It’s quite fascinating, even in its candor about some of the awful parts. Those guys are getting old – I fully expect the next tour to be the “we know we left our reading glasses in one of these stadiums” tour.
DougJ
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
I’d like to check it out, I do love me some Keef.
Mark S.
So are we to believe that Cuba wasn’t a capitalist paradise before Castro? This will no doubt be confusing to people who rely on Sean Hannity’s coloring book of American history.
Nutella
Rubio’s just a particularly clear example of the weird nativist attitude that’s so common here in a nation of immigrants and descendents of immigrants. Only a Native American can be anti-immigrant without a debilitating quantity of cognitive dissonance but somehow even some people who have immigrant parents (aka anchor babies) manage to do it.
Loneoak
@DougJ:
Lol, is DougJ a secret stoner? Time to come out of the cannabis closet!
Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen
That assumes (incorrectly) that people from points between 30N & 50S* in this part of the world see themselves as one big happy family.
I’d no more expect Latinos as a group to go for Rubio (even if he wasn’t a douche) than I would expect Asians as a group to go for Bobby Jindal.
*Offer does not apply in some portions of the Gulf of Mexico, which is another issue but still central to my point.
Villago Delenda Est
@Nutella:
It’s fascinating that a guy like Tom Tancredo doesn’t get that 40 years or so ago he was not a “real murkin” because his last name ends in a vowel.
Martin
@Mark S.:
Is it really a coloring book if the only crayon he gives you is a white one?
Jeffro
“A bilingual Paul Ryan at best”
Oh yes, this is gonna be appropriated for future water cooler convos, you bet!
Jeffro
@Martin: Also, this comment could easily be turned into a very effective campaign ad
lamh34
the story actually gets murkier. Rubio continually says that his parents ALWAYS planned to go back home to Cuba, but on the via application all those many years ago, when asked how long they plan to stay in US, the checked off “permanently”, which is no big deal I guess, but it just comes after the obviously omissions and doesn’t make Rubi look any better.
I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine this week about Rubio. She Puerto Rican and she expressed no love lost for the Cuban Rubio. In fact, she was really animated about her dislike of “rich Cubans” who had the money to leave Cuba while the poorer residents were unable to leave…
Another friend who’s Mexican American, has never heard of Marco Rubio, but when you mention that he’s Cubsn, then he is even less impressed with him.
The idea that Rubio will automatically brings Hispanics to GOP side is almost as ludicrous as nominated a Black guy and expected Blacks to automatically start voting GOP…Oh wait, maybe that’s not so ludicrous to them after all.
Nutella
@Villago Delenda Est:
Yeah, and that Arpaio guy too. Wops, wetbacks, what’s the diff?
/snark
Martin
@lamh34:
Rubio is supposed to bring Florida – that’s it. Florida is an important get in the electoral calculus.
Steve
Rubio is a pretty good politician. Sure, a lot of what he says is just dumb conservative slogans, but what else is new? I think it’s a mistake to think that the only way he can get anywhere is by being a Hispanic Politician [tm].
But yeah, the number of Hispanics who will switch to GOP just because a Hispanic (be he Cuban or Mexican or whatever) is the VP candidate is probably comparable to the number of women who will switch for Palin. It just doesn’t work that way in closely watched elections.
Violet
LOL. That made me laugh. But does he have Ryan’s pretty, pretty blue eyes that make Ryan a Serious Politician?
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@lamh34: The “Hispanic/Latino” demographic is about as anti-monolithic as you are going to find, as your conversations with your friends demonstrate. While there’s not a lot of love lost between the Puerto Rican folks and those from central and south America (usually undistinguished by the GOP as all “Mexicans”), both of those groups really dislike the Cubans. So it’s truly a joke to thin Rubio is gonna help, except among the already GOP favoring Cubans in Florida. Once again, the bigotry of the Confederates prevents them from understand the factual dynamics of the populations they think they’re attracting. See, e.g., Palin, Sarah 2008.
Linda Featheringill
Stuff is happening in NYC.
dkos has live streaming.
Martin
@Jeffro: I thought this thing I read today would make a pretty effective theme for campaign ads:
Loneoak
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
They’ve done a pretty good job wrapping up the hillabilly vote, tho.
lamh34
@Martin: so is the Cuban vote in Florida that powerful. What percentage of the vote are they? Also, aren’t the younger Cuban’s more liberal than their parents are?
Why is it assumed that Rubio would bring Florida? As I recall Rubio won mainly because the votes splitting between Crist and Meeks right???
Who’s to say if Rubio had a tougher Dem opponent and Crist wasn’t in the race that Rubio would have still won.
How often does it occur that the 2nd person on the ticket can deliver their state?
suzanne
I hate to say it, but if Latino voters don’t turn out in droves, this shit will keep happening, And I think Marco Rubio wins the nomination in 2016 or 2020.
Violet
@lamh34:
I’ve heard a clip of Rubio saying this, and what I don’t understand is why the interviewer doesn’t then say, “Really? America wasn’t good enough for them? They always wanted to leave?” Because among the USANUMBERONE!1!1! crowd, doesn’t the fact that his parents planned to leave mean that they’re not Real Murkins?
Odie Hugh Manatee
So Rubio’s parents fled Cuba, which was then being run into the ground by Batista, to take up permanent residence in the USA? Rubio has been abusing their immigration here to say that it was the fault of Castro and the Commies in an attempt to build him some Repub street cred?
Batista, with ‘assistance’ from the United States, the Mafia and multinational companies, was the reason Castro came into power. Batista’s police state was imprisoning, torturing and killing Cuban citizens, making life in Cuba a living hell for them. The mob was controlling prostitution, gambling and the drug market, the multinational corporations were draining the country dry with massive payoffs to Batista and the US government was supplying him with the materials necessary to oppress his citizens.
No wonder his parents fled Cuba. It’s clear to me that Rubio is a liar (surprise!) who will misrepresent anything to make himself look good and to profit from it.
IOW, he’s the perfect Republican. No wonder they want him to run for the Presidency one day, he’s one of them.
Martin
@lamh34: Cubans are about half a million voters in Florida, out of a total of 11 million registered, but they turn out at a higher than average rate. So, about 5%. It’s a pretty big voting block because if you can shift that block from one party to the other, you’ll probably win the state unless some other block shifts comparably. Further those votes are concentrated in a subset of congressional districts there so they get quite a lot (and rightfully so) of attention politically.
Jay
What a take – down, DougJ. That was truly some “Mortal Kombat” – caliber shit you pulled, and the beauty of it is, you didn’t have to do alot of work.
Martin
@lamh34:
Forgot that part:
It depends on how they deliver it. Homestate advantage doesn’t mean much in the 2nd slot. For most states, it doesn’t mean much in the top slot either. For example, I can’t think of a CA Republican that could carry CA even at the top of the ticket.
But I think certain key populations to delivering a state can be carried by the top or 2nd slot on the ticket. I think a VP candidate that resonates strongly and positively with a key underserved demographic group could boost turnout enough to flip a state – so a cuban candiate in Florida, a latino candidate in Texas/Arizona/Nevada/California, a Mormon candidate in Nevada possibly, etc.
The key is ‘underserved’, and it needs to cut across the grain of the overall electoral calculus. Obama didn’t do that terribly much because there weren’t many African Americans to flip from Republican votes, but he did boost turnout. What would have been interesting (because I’m a geek this way) is if Cain had been the first African American at the top of a major party ticket. How many black voters would have pulled the lever for him, simply because of the historic nature of the vote, and how many black voters would have stayed home because they couldn’t vote for a Republican and couldn’t bear to vote against what could turn out to be the first black president? (I’m glad we never ran that experiment, but it would have been all kinds of interesting)
John S.
@Martin:
As a long time South Floridian, I can tell you that your theories are all fine and good, but they won’t hold up in practice. The Cuban vote isn’t what it used to be here, and the only Cubans that are really a lock for the GOP are the ones over 50. In other words, they are Latino teabaggers.
The only way they have a disproportionate effect on the Florida vote is for Democrats to stay home. That may have worked in 2010, but it ain’t gonna work in 2012. Floridians fucking despise Prick Scott, and will turn out en masse to vote against the GOP. That alone will wipe out any Cuban advantage here. It may be close, but mark my words, Florida will be going to Obama again.
John S.
@lamh34:
You recall correctly. Rubio won with 48.9% of the vote. If Meek hadn’t been committed to waging his vanity campaign to nowhere, Crist would be our Senator and Rubio would be working for some bullshit PAC somewhere.
ant
Heh. I can’t help but get the same feeling here in Wisconsin. The teabag governors that were elected in 2010 sure aren’t helping Republican chances for taking the white house in 2012.
Just for shits and giggles, go to 270towin.com, and put FL, WI, OH, and MI blue. Then see what it takes for the Republicans to get to 270….
That’s a HELL of a path to the white house.
El Cid
Maybe he’s the son of a mill worker, a sugar mill worker, or at least that’s the way he wants to see it.
JGabriel
Ot, but Krugman got a pretty good jab in at Tom Friedman today:
Heh.
.
bago
Still giggling at the thought of “Marco Kombat!” being shouted out by DougJ.
Morzer
@El Cid:
Could be he’s a pheasant plucker’s son…
El Cid
There might ought be some interest in the whole “Yes it’s really out in the open Pakistan really is still training & arming the Taliban” thing.
Also,
soonergrunt
OT, but Tbogg is hosting another poo-flinging match over at his corner of FDL.
http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2011/10/26/you-could-even-catch-a-bullet-from-the-peacekeeping-force/#comments
It seems that a couple of them think that President Obama is personally responsible for the Oakland PD shooting that former Marine, Scott Olsen, and Tbogg won’t fall in lockstep with them, so they’re getting all Tourette’s on him.
soonergrunt
@El Cid: but, but, but I thought we had all agreed that the problems in Afghanistan were exclusively the result of blood thirsty murdering and raping Americans!
Man, you’re fucking up the narrative!
BGinCHI
Doug, WTF?
Paul Ryan is bilingual. He speaks English and Fucking Dickhead fluently. He also speaks Selfish, but he often doesn’t know what he’s talking about
Nutella
@soonergrunt:
Did you notice that the primary flinger goes by the name ‘realitychecker’? Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Morzer
@BGinCHI:
He also speaks Double-Talk and Bafflegab with some fluency in Bloviation.
PeakVT
@Morzer: Out of both sides of his mouth, no less.
Martin
@John S.: Oh, I agree, I don’t think that it’ll work. I don’t think Rubio does this: ‘resonates strongly and positively with a key underserved demographic group’. But the GOP probably think that he does, or at least did before this mess.
But the GOP most certainly has given up on trying to win latinos broadly, at least to any degree to turn battleground states (of which there are few that latinos would play a role). Nevada, maybe Arizona. That’s pretty much it, and that’s not many EVs. There are better ways for the GOP to hold Texas than trying to win latinos, and there’s no fucking way they’re even making it to first base in CA. Nah, they’ve already committed to the nativist path. There’s no time for them to unwind it, and they lose too much in other states by doing so.
Judas Escargot
@ant:
Poll data says otherwise.
BGinCHI
@Judas Escargot: I certainly don’t blame folks for trying to get him recalled. But I’m afraid that due to the time and effort it’s taking, it’s giving him cover as a victim. He looks beset by this adversity and it’s making a lot of news when it ought to be about how terrible he and his GOP colleagues are for WI.
So, if he wins the recall, I’d expect him to get beat by a good Dem challenger next election. If the people of WI don’t turn out to repeal the cuts that are turning them into Wississippi, they aren’t ever going to get their shit together.
Calouste
@Martin:
Colorado and New Mexico are also relatively close states with a significant Latino population.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@soonergrunt: I wonder how much longer he will last there. If he moves on, it will remove the last reason I ever go to that site.
DougJ
@soonergrunt:
I don’t have the heart to watch. I dig tbogg and he deserves better.
BGinCHI
@DougJ: Go over there. Even way down he’s dealing out the bitch slaps. He’s got stamina that TBogg.
Jenny
That’s TWO big Exposé within a week against Rubio.
First the fake exile lies. And now this.
Someone is FedEx-ing their their op-research to Kaplan.
I wonder who. I’m betting on Axelrod. He didn’t earn the moniker “Axe” for nothing.
Jenny
Tweety took a big Dump on Rubio and Politico for being a Rubio apologist, today.
I love it when Tweety gets the bit between his teeth.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/#45053613
Bago
I suppose cold harbor lane was occupied?
Bubblegum Tate
@Villago Delenda Est:
Oh, I think he gets that just fine; he’s just happy that now he gets to shit on people instead of being shat on.
Tyro
Wow. “I’m not one of you ‘immigrants’, my family are ‘exiles'”? That’s not going to make him any friends.
vanya
I don’t get conservatives at all. From their point of view isn’t an exile WORSE? After all, an immigrant has freely chosen to come the US and presumably chooses to adopt American values, etc. etc. An exile is someone who longs to return to the mother country. Rubio is basically telling us that his real loyalty is to Cuba, and he and his family will hop the first flight back to Havana as soon as Castro is gone. Nothing wrong with that, but is that who conservatives now consider a patriotic American leader?
John S.
@Martin:
I believe you are 100% correct, and given how demographics are trending, it does not bode well. Hence all the voter suppression tactics, which may buttress their rump party for another cycle or two before the damn breaks. Like I said to the two African-Americans behind me when I voted in 2010 – Please, keep voting and save me from the crazy white people.
@Judas Escargot:
Apparently, folks from Wisconsin are far more gullible than here in Florida. Even though Scott’s approval is up to a personal high of 37%, the internals look grisly for him. He has basically lost every Democrat in the state, and his unpopularity with Independents has gone up considerably. The only reason his numbers are up is because disaffected Republicans are coming home to him – presumably to piss off liberals.
Considering he squeaked by with 48% of the vote the first time around (thanks 3rd party morons), that isn’t a recipe for success. And fired up Dems/Indies on election day 2012 is good news for
McCainObama.lou
Republicans make the frequent mistake of lumping Cubans in with other Latino groups. And there is a lot of resentment from other Hispanic groups, that Cubans get this free card to immigrate to the U.S. while they don’t. (speaking as a former South Floridian)
rikryah
So, it seems as if Senator Marco ‘Anchor Baby’ Rubio’s ‘ American Dream’ Story isn’t quite what it was made out to be.
In actuality, it’s nothing but a lie.
His parents weren’t poor patriots, run out of Cuba by the evil Fidel Castro.
He truly is nothing but an Anchor Baby, plain and simple.
1. he is, by definition that the right -wing, which tried to push this clown, while at the same time, talking birtherism bullshyt about the President – an ANCHOR BABY
2. not only is he an Anchor Baby, but he has the NERVE to NOT be the sponsor of the DREAM ACT in the Senate. …go so far as to say ‘ it doesn’t concern him.’
DOESN’T CONCERN HIM?
For me, as a Black person, looking at this clown, the equivalent would be to have a Black Senator during the time of the Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act, telling Black folks that ‘ it wasn’t his concern’.
Black folk would have been, ‘ Nigra, what the —- are you talking about?’
Maybe he has it today, but until recently Senator Grifting Anchor Baby Rubio didn’t even have a section on his website for IMMIGRATION.
I’ll say it again: he’s nothing but a grifting (check the stories in the Florida press about how he made money while in public office) Anchor Baby.
And, if he hadn’t of come to prominence while kissing the ass of folks who peddled in birtherism and the ‘ What about if you ain’t White, don’t you understand’ Laws, then we could leave Senator Anchor Baby alone. As is, when you push yourself up, and won’t help the folks that you will later try and pimp yourself to in order to get votes for the GOP, well…
Black folks know what to call folks like Senator Anchor Baby….maybe the Latino community is more ‘ understanding’ of folks like Senator Anchor Baby.
the Cubans now know that they were pimped by Rubio.
shortstop
All the credible explanations of Rubio’s limited vote-getting powers notwithstanding, Mitt’s going to put him on the ticket. Done deal — he’s got a plan and that plan is to get a younger, sexier, Mexican-or-whatever guy in there to attract the Hispanish vote and the ladies. This is how they think.