Posted on 02/06/2016 6:07:04 AM PST by Elderberry
Marco Rubio is often compared to Barack Obama on the campaign trail, and he's quick to refute questions over their comparable inexperience before running for president.
But there's at least one way the senator from Florida draws his own comparison to Obama - if only to pledge he'll score the big wins for conservatives that Obama did for liberals.
"Barack Obama has been the most consequential liberal president since Franklin Roosevelt," Rubio told NBC News' Gabe Gutierrez in a sit-down interview aboard his campaign bus in New Hampshire.
Rubio doesn't believe Obama's accomplishments have been good for the country: He claimed Obama orchestrated a government takeover of the healthcare system, wants to raise taxes and has weakened the military.
"Barack Obama has been an effective liberal. We need to reverse that with someone who is as committed to conservative principles as he has been to liberalism," Rubio said.
Related: Despite Endorsement, Santorum Stumped on Rubio Accomplishments
Rubio dismissed comparisons to Obama from his critics as sour grapes from other candidates jockeying for advantage in the presidential race.
"When people want to win a campaign they say all kinds of things," Rubio said. "I disagree with Barack Obama on virtually every major issue of consequence that's come before this country."
Rubio's comments came in response to recent criticism from his rivals that, like Obama when he first ran for president, Rubio has little concrete to show for his career in politics.
The criticism picked up steam Thursday when former Sen. Rick Santorum, who endorsed Rubio immediately after dropping out of the presidential race on Wednesday, struggled to name any accomplishments from Rubio's time in the Senate.
But Rubio pushed back against those critiques in the interview, telling Gutierrez that he's "proud of my record in public service."
Related: Cascade of Endorsements Gives Rubio Added Momentum
Rubio touted his work on property rights as speaker of the Florida House. In the Senate, Rubio highlighted his efforts to reform the Veterans Administration, eliminate the Obamacare risk corridors and pass new sanctions on Hezbollah.
Pressed on whether passing those sanctions - which drew widespread bipartisan support - constituted a prime achievement of his five years in the Senate, Rubio argued that the Senate had been "paralyzed" by former Majority Leader Harry Reid, making it impossible to pass anything of much consequence.
"Well, listen, we've been in the United States Senate that's been literally paralyzed by Harry Reid for four out of the last five years," Rubio said. "But yes, I'm frustrated at the lack of progress in Washington. That's why I'm running for president, because I want these things to be meaningful again."
Rubio dismissed overall the scrutiny on his record, arguing the election should be a look forward more than anything.
"At the end of the day, this election's about the future, not just a resume competition. This election is about what happens next for America," he said.
Rubio's been campaigning hard in New Hampshire, and heads into the final three days before voters head to the polls riding on the momentum of a stronger-than-expected finish in Iowa and a cascade of powerful endorsements from elected officials in a handful of states. The good week both provides a positive backdrop to, and ups the ante for, the next GOP debate, on Saturday night, when he's certain to have a target on his back.
But Rubio insisted he wasn't fazed by the pressure, and his prep-work for the debates was mostly just keeping current on the latest news.
"I'm running for president. I know what I stand for. I know what I believe. And so preparing for debates is basically just staying current on the news and be prepared to answer in a serious way the questions that are asked of you - but also outlining a vision for America's future," he said.
He says he disagrees with VIRTUALLY all of the major Obama positions. Which means he agrees with Obama on SOME major positions. I want to hear him say what those AGREEMENTS are. Virtually is a weasel word.
yes it is Marco. Yes it is.
Not a resume competition? Right... when hiring someone the last think we’d want to do is consider experience and accomplishments... It worked out so well with thatcommunity organizer...
What planet do these reporters come from?
Actually Obama has delivered far more for his base than they ever expected, unlike Rubio whose main achievement was to royally screw his supporters.
I wish we could elect someone that’s as effective for us as Obama has been for the Rats.
Adjective-- silly; stupid.
Synonyms: silly, foolish, stupid, fatuous, idiotic, ridiculous.
Rubio’s speeches are “invariably concluding with the ultimate banality of the hustings that ‘this election is about the future’”
- Mark Steyn 2/4/16
Hey, wait a minute. #(2) Obamatrade
Sen. Rubio cast the 60th and deciding vote to fast-track the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.
I keep hearing DT suppporters say it was Cruz.
Suck it, Rubio...I WILL NEVER VOTE FOR YOU
Know your enemy!
Rubio’s deception!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3391812/posts
The same people who own Rubio own Paul Ryan.
Says the guy with nothing on his resume.
Nice list!
It’s easier to accomplish things as President if that Pres. craps all over the Constitution with no resistance, has the MSM and much of big business in bed with him, has Jarrett and others pulling the strings, and Congress is (mostly) a bunch of sissies and / or co-conspirators. Kermit the Frog could succeed in this scenario.
“That’s why I’m missing votes. Because I am leaving the Senate. I am not running for reelection,” Rubio said in the last Republican debate, after Donald Trump had mocked him for his unusual number of absences during Senate votes.
Limbaugh isn’t fooled. He sold out, just like Beck and LEvin....to all the same special interest groups.
The source stinks, but they are right on this one. Follow the $$. Buying off radio personalities is nothing new. The GW BUSH administration did plenty of it!
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/tea-party-radio-network-105774
snip] But there was a more earthly benefit to the arrangement that brought Beck to the rally. It was organized by the tea party nonprofit group FreedomWorks, which had endorsed the candidates — and which has paid more than $6 million in recent years to have Beck promote the group, its initiatives and events.
The FreedomWorks-Beck relationship is just one example of a powerful and profitable alliance between the conservative movement’s most aggressive groups and the most popular radio hosts. The details of the arrangements are little-known, but they have been lucrative for the recipients, and, in turn, have helped ensure that the groups get coveted airtime from hosts with a demonstrated ability to leverage their tens of millions of listeners to shape American politics. It’s an alliance that helped spawn the anti-establishment tea party and power Republicans to landslide victories in the 2010 midterms
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/tea-party-radio-network-105774#ixzz3zPFYy5Tn
“I keep hearing DT suppporters say it was Cruz.”
It was both of the anchor baby/foreign born losers. Except Rubio didn’t lower himself like Cruz did to team up with Paul Ryan to push TPP/TPa in the Wall St. Journal. To hear him tell it, this obamatrade was the best thing since sliced bread! Then he tried to tell us, “I didn’t know’...BS...he knew or he should have shut up about it!
Good one!
Hillary will neuter him on issue after issue. He has not addressed her felonious conduct with classified material. She will get him to admit the use of a private server was "inappropriate" (he has already used that word) and then leave the rest of the issue untouched. She will beat him rather easily. The media wants him to be the next Romney.
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