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 He joined the drive to defund President Barack Obama's health care
law, though his voice grew softer as the resulting government
shutdown and his party sank in polls. He then turned to championing
social issues like legislative prayer.
On Saturday, Rubio will deliver the keynote address at a fundraiser
for the Florida Family Policy Council, an evangelical group that led
the successful 2008 effort to ban gay marriage in the state. And
next week, the potential presidential candidate plans to deliver
what aides described as a major foreign policy speech at the
conservative American Enterprise Institute.
Taken together, Republicans say the actions suggest two things: that
Rubio is trying to reconnect with activists still smarting over his
support for an immigration overhaul that included a path to
citizenship for millions of immigrants living here illegally, and
that he's trying to find an issue that resonates with conservatives,
in the way Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is linked to fighting "Obamacare" and
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul to criticizing the president's use of drone
strikes.
That's important if Rubio wants to stand out in a potentially
crowded GOP presidential field, where he is generally viewed as less
strident than Cruz and former Sen. Rick Santorum but more
conservative than New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Rubio's advisers
say the senator long has emphasized his conservative positions and
would benefit from the fact that, unlike others, he's able to talk
about them in a way that doesn't turn off voters from other parts of
the political spectrum.
"There is still a space in the Republican primary field for someone
to emerge as the conservative alternative to Christie," said Scott
Reed, a Republican who ran Bob Dole's 1996 campaign. "Rubio's at the
front of the line, if he chooses to run."
To do so successfully, Rubio would need to rekindle the conservative
fire among the tea party voters who elevated an obscure state
legislator into a national sensation — and who are poised to help
christen the next GOP standard-bearer. Right now, Rubio is so
closely associated with the stalled immigration bill that at a
conference of conservatives this summer he was heckled with cries of
"No amnesty!"
These days, he rarely mentions immigration. And after months of
arguing for the passage of the comprehensive bill he helped write,
Rubio says he now favors the piecemeal approach of House leaders,
who have focused primarily on border security and enforcement. He
has said he's being "realistic" about the prospects of far-reaching
changes in the Republican-dominated lower chamber.
Meanwhile, Rubio has used his perch on the Senate foreign relations
and intelligence committees to push for stiffer sanctions on Iran
and greater accountability on foreign aid.
He's also emphasizing his right-leaning positions on social issues,
which aides say is simply a reflection of the Florida senator's
conservative passions; he is a devout Catholic who wears a bracelet
highlighting his opposition to abortion rights.
"Sen. Rubio is a committed movement conservative who is active on
almost every front in the fight for the values that make America
great," said spokesman Alex Conant. "The values and principles he's
fighting for right now are the same ones he's been fighting for as
long as he's been in public office."
Last month, Rubio won standing ovations from activists at the Values
Voter Summit in Washington when he affirmed his Christian faith and
denounced what he called a "rising tide of intolerance" toward
social conservatives.
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"I've also been lectured, as many of you have, about how we need to
stop talking about social issues if we want to win elections," Rubio
told the crowd. "But if we're serious about saving the American
dream, we can't stop talking about these issues. ...The moral
well-being of our people is directly linked to their economic
well-being."
As the Supreme Court considered a case about the constitutionality
of prayer in government meetings, Rubio wrote op-eds for Christian
and conservative media outlets defending the role of public
religious expression. In interviews, Rubio backed the town of
Greece, N.Y., which sought to overturn an appeals court ruling that
barred the Rochester suburb from beginning its council meetings with
mostly Christian prayers.
This month, he opposed Senate legislation that would prohibit
workplace discrimination against gay, bisexual and transgender
Americans. In a statement, his office said Rubio was concerned the
bill could result in "frivolous lawsuits" for small businesses and
wanted to ensure that "religious freedoms under the First Amendment
are protected." Last week, he co-sponsored a bill that would ban
abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Some of the actions have drawn criticism.
In recent months, Rubio quietly withdrew his support for the
nomination of a Miami judge who would have been the first openly gay
black man on the federal bench. Although he initially backed William
Thomas for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of Florida last year, a spokeswoman said further review
raised concerns about the judge's "judicial temperament and his
willingness to impose appropriate criminal sentences" in two cases.
Legal and civil rights groups have alleged Rubio's motives are
political. They note that in one case, a hit-and-run in which Rubio
thought the sentence was too lenient, the lead prosecutor and an
administrative judge wrote the senator saying Thomas had acted
fairly.
"To me, that would not be a basis to prevent the confirmation
process from going forward," said Yolanda Strader, president of
Miami's largest association for black lawyers.
While some of Rubio's actions could alienate moderates and
independents in a general election, they have not gone unnoticed in
the early-voting states that play an outsized role in picking
presidential nominees. There, social issues are often at the top of
Republicans' concerns.
"Marco Rubio, in looking at his entire body of work, fits very well
into the mainstream of the values of South Carolina," said Bob
McAlister, a GOP consultant who helped run Sen. John McCain's
campaign there in 2008.
"We want a president who is conservative to the core on foundational
issues but at the same time realistic and has the ability to get
things done," he said.
[Associated
Press; MICHAEL J. MISHAK]
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