Sen. Marco Rubio tours Florida to repair image damaged over immigration reform

Tampa Bay Times ^ | AUG 13,2013 | Alex Leary

[Hojczyk]

As he moves across Florida this week, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is keeping two schedules.

The public one, where he tells friendly, pro-business crowds what he sees as the dangers of Obamacare. And the invite-only one, where he seeks to reconnect with grass roots conservative activists who have questions — and some outrage — over his involvement in immigration reform.

It's a two-step plan designed to repair Rubio's image, which has taken a beating in recent months, darkening the glow of his 2016 presidential The redemption tour continued Tuesday with stops in Tallahassee and Panama City and concludes today in Pensacola. Other travel is likely as Congress spends the month away from Washington.

To grasp how far Rubio has fallen among a segment of his base, consider a gathering of 300 people in Sarasota last week for a talk by outspoken immigration opponent Dennis Michael Lynch. "As soon as he said 'Marco Rubio,' the room just went crazy. They booed, they hissed, there were catcalls," said Richard Swier, a local activist.

A Facebook page that had been titled Panhandle Patriots for Marco Rubio has been renamed Panhandle Patriots Mad at Marco Rubio. It is full of angry sentiment over immigration.

Rubio acknowledges the fallout.

[VRWCarea51]

He should call in Chuckles Schumer to go to the Town Hall meetings with him if he is so gaga over the Legislation.

[Flintlock]

RINORubio needs to be in a different party.

[nathanbedford]

Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad

-or at least they fill them with hubris

One cannot contemplate the tragic fall of Marco Rubio from the heights without a real feeling of sadness for what might have been. He was a man of extraordinary gifts who committed two major sins, one forgivable and one unforgivable.

He committed the forgivable sin of bad timing. His defection could not have come at a worse time because it put him not just on the wrong side of the issue of immigration but on the wrong side of the ledger. The party is in the process of purification and it is looking for leaders whom they can trust for the very survival of the movement and of the nation. At a time when the party perceives John Boehner and Mitch McConnell to be selling us out on the issues of Obamacare and immigration, Marco Rubio's betrayal comes at a time when conservatives are marking their paladins to be either with us or with the enemy. Rubio sold out at a time when conservatives are looking to clean house and are in no mood to forgive.

Rubio committed an unforgivable sin far worse than bad timing. Rubio betrayed that he would risk the entire future of conservatism in America in order to advance his career. We conservatives equate the future the conservative movement with the future of the nation. Rubio consciously put the nation at risk for personal gain. The issue of immigration is an existential importance for conservatism and for the Republic. Rubio would cost us our sovereignty, our economic future, and any hope for preserving sanity in the polling booths for at least a generation. By the time America recovers from the immigration flood consciously created by the Democrat party to stack election demographics for generations, there might well be no grand American experiment to salvage. The issue of immigration is just that serious.

Rubio has aligned himself with the elitists and against conservatives. He has done so at the worst time. In doing so he risks everything. We simply can no longer tolerate self dealing politicians who will sell us out. Rubio can never, ever be trusted.

[tumblindice]

“How’d your date go, Marco?”
“Terrible! She stormed off the miniature golf course! AND flipped me off!”
“What happened? Did you say or do something?”
“Nah. No. Well, it was a little warm. All I said was, ‘You don’t sweat much for a pig.’ and she just blew up ...”

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Schumer stink is harder to wash off than skunk!

[lu shissler]

You can’t put toothpaste back in a tube!

[PoloSec]

Rubio you want to repair the damage, drop support for amnesty, and resign, hangout with Ted Cruz for a few years, then try again, but I will never ever vote for or trust you, I was deceived by you, and aggressively supported your campaign...you treasonous b@%^*$)!

I did my very best to be civil in my comment, I think I succeeded.

[SharpRightTurn]

You got your 30 pieces of silver, Rubio.

Now go to the people who paid you if you want accolades.

The rest of us hold you in contempt.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

I voted for you Marco because I thought you were a conservative...this is not baseball you don’t get three strikes.
Only one and you are out on AMNESTY ALONE
Adding that we have to pass it now or Obama does it by EO did not help you either.
May I be the first to tell you...I hope to heck you get primaried by Alan West or some other conservative. We are finished and you are dismissed
Freegards
LEX

[Standing Wolf]

Rubio has aligned himself with the elitists and against conservatives. He has done so at the worst time. In doing so he risks everything. We simply can no longer tolerate self dealing politicians who will sell us out. Rubio can never, ever be trusted.

Well said again, nathanbedford. People without principles are always confounded when they encounter people of principle.

[MissMagnolia]

Some folks think they can dance with the devil and not get burned .... evidently Marco was operating under the misguided idea that his brand of underwear was flame-proof. Wrong-o.

[VRWC For Truth]

The Great Hispanic Pumpkin burnt the bridge to a crisp. Un, buh-bye!

[dandiegirl]

He can’t repair his stance on immigration because it will come up again and again and he will still choose amnesty and everybody knows it. He’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer to let himself get so sucked in by a sleeze dem like Schumer. Ann Coulter remarked on Hannity that we need intelligent people to run for office in the Republican party if there are any. Rubio has always bugged me from the get go.

[Hostage]

Bingo.

He is too stupid indeed. But then there is the Stupid Party.....

[dandiegirl]

Any Republican that is so stupid that they can’t see that the only reason the dems are salivating over amnesty has a brain full of rocks. Rubio qualifies for this. 30 million votes for democrats every year will do conservatives in.

[Jean2]

Good luck with that one Marco.

[stephenjohnbanker]

You nailed it.

[pogo101]

I agree (and hope) Rubio’s reputation can’t be repaired, like Humpty’s shell.

But Humpty just fell. Rubio did a deliberate swan dive into the deep end of the betrayal pool.

I don’t want a Dem (or Crist) to get that seat, but I do want Rubio out of it.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Its going to be hard to repair the image of the RINO poster boy for Amnesty.

[NonValueAdded]

fuggedaboutit Marco