Here's my latest post on
Vice President Marco Rubio at Al Jazeera. I don't wouldn't say that he's a terrible running mate for Mitt Romney. He just probably won't bring as much to the table as Republicans hope in terms of votes and the potential baggage from his time in the Florida House won't help.
At this point in time, it doesn't appear that Rubio will bring much to the ticket for Mitt Romney. It is not certain that he will help the Republican Party with Latino voters, a population that they have spent years successfully alienating. Rubio's foreign policy knowledge, specifically towards Latin America, is unlikely to persuade Americans to switch their vote from Obama to Romney.
While I am all for the US government working more closely with our hemispheric neighbours to resolve pressing social, political, economic and security challenges, it is just not an issue that strongly resonates with US voters. It's also not clear that Rubio's position towards approaching Latin America is going to be effective one that advances an agenda that benefits either the United States or the people of Latin America.
At the end of the day, Mitt Romney needs to decide whether Marco Rubio is the best person to help the US should he win in November and the best person to replace him should he be unable to complete his four-year term. Obviously, it depends on who the other short list candidates are, but in 2012 it sure looks like Romney should pass on Rubio.
So what do you think? Would Rubio make you more or less likely to vote Romney in November?
