Yes, but Rubio is alot more squishy of a conservative than Ryan. Palin or Bachmann would be forgiven for a VP like Rubio, but Romney needed someone very conservative to keep the Tea Party from starting an open revolt. So in a way, Rubio was never a viable choice.
Plus Ryan neutralizes the Ron Paul factor, with all the dissatisfaction with Romney, Ron Paul could have easily gotten 3-4% in some purple state and thrown the election to Obama. I think he will stay out of junior’s way now.
Junior as in fellow hardcore small government guy, I know they are not related.