Marco Rubio’s moment

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is a serious candidate for president and in truth, the potential Republican nominee that most of the smartest Democratic strategists believe would be the strongest GOP nominee. Some time ago, I wrote that Rubio is underrated while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) is overrated. I would add today that as a potential president, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) should not be rated. There is a greater chance that the College of Cardinals someday summons me to Rome to be a future pope than there is of Cruz becoming president.

The most important thing to know about Rubio before he entered the Senate is that he was selected by his peers to be speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. This tells us two things. First, that Rubio is a serious legislator with authentic leadership qualities. Second — and do not underestimate the importance of this — that Rubio has earned substantial respect from those who know him best, which is not always true of well-known politicians.

If one took a vote in the Senate Republican Cloakroom today, the vote might well be unanimous that Rubio has earned widespread respect from his Republican colleagues in the Senate while Cruz has earned widespread disrespect, and in some cases contempt, from his.

{mosads}One of the assets of my being a veteran Washington hand who has worked at the leadership level of the House and Senate is that I have observed many “names in the news” up close and from the inside. Having observed many winners and losers up close, my view is that Rubio is the real deal. Will he find the presidential magic as he meets people from every walk of life in the crucible of presidential politics? We shall see, but he may well be a future president or vice president, sooner or later.

Some pundits suggest that Rubio’s announcing a day after the formidable Hillary Clinton announced was bad timing for Rubio. I completely disagree. Rubio has a major opportunity this week to present himself as a young next-generation GOP alternative to Clinton, especially if he seizes the opportunity to present creative conservative ideas on economic policy in the tradition of that great generator of such ideas, the late former Rep. Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.).

Cruz has one advantage — that the crazy right of the GOP will give him money — but I suspect four years from now Cruz is out of the Senate and out of electoral politics while Rubio will remain a major national player on the presidential stage for a long time to come.

I may not be the most obvious person to offer Republicans advice, but if I were a Republican, the ticket that would be exciting might combine Rubio for president with Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), a rising star who deserves more attention from the political media, for vice president.

I would still bet on my candidate, Clinton, seven days of the week, but don’t believe anyone who doesn’t admit that the the combination that most worries smart Democrats is a next-generation and respected Hispanic nominee like Rubio running with a next-generation and respected female nominee such as Ayotte.

How’s that for an honest reading from a die-hard Democrat like yours truly?

Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who was then chief deputy majority whip of the House. He holds an LL.M. degree in international financial law from the London School of Economics. Contact him at brentbbi@webtv.net.