Scott Walker Eyes Marco Rubio as His Running Mate

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is talking positively about a Republican presidential ticket — potentially announced even before the first nomination balloting — that would include Sen. Marco Rubio as his running mate. 

In a Bloomberg Politics interview Thursday, the likely candidate also expressed agreement with President Barack Obama on the pressing issue of fast-track trade legislation.
Walker, 47, isn't expected to formally enter the race until early July, after his state has completed a two-year budget plan. Still, he's apparently given some consideration and had discussions already about a potential running mate, with the focus on Rubio.

"I've actually had quite a few people, grassroots supporters, donors, and others who have made that suggestion," he said when asked about a Walker-Rubio ticket.

"For now, you know, Marco is a quality candidate," Walker said. "He's going to be formidable in this race as things progress. And if we were to get in, we'd be as well, and we'll see where things take us."

Walker was in Utah to meet with potential financial supporters and to speak at a summit hosted by 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney that's attracted six declared and likely presidential candidates. The full interview can be seen on BloombergPolitics.com.
Walker said he and Rubio often hear the suggestion that they should combine forces, potentially even before the first nomination voting in Iowa in February 2016, as a way to stand out amid a crowded field. "We'd just probably have to arm-wrestle over who would be at the top of the ticket," he said.

Some who have talked privately to Walker about a possible pairing with Rubio say they have been surprised by how seriously the Wisconsin governor seems to be taking the prospect. At this phase of presidential campaign, the norm would be for a White House hopeful to summarily dismiss such a move, in public and in private.

Via: NewsMax

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Opinion: GOP targets Latinos’ ability to vote

Even as a diverse coalition of Americans unite around the principle that voting rights are an essential American principle that needs to be protected, the Republican Party remains firmly committed to doing the opposite. Their continued push for policies that make it more difficult for people to vote disproportionately affects minority and young voters.

Republicans – including leading Presidential candidates – have for years been pushing initiatives that make it harder to vote. Jeb Bush supports states’ efforts to enact voter ID laws, and as governor, he restricted early voting and infamously purged 12,000 eligible voters before the 2000 presidential election. Marco Rubio asked, “What’s the big deal?” with voter ID laws. Scott Walker enacted what has been described as “one of the most restrictive voter ID laws in the country.”

Voter ID laws systematically target Latinos’ and other minorities’ ability to vote. In 2012, measures to restrict voting could have affected over 10 million Latino voters. A Brennan Center for Justice study reported, “In Colorado, Florida, and Virginia, the number of eligible Latino citizens that could be affected by these barriers exceeds the margin of victory in each of those states during the 2008 presidential election.”

And it’s no accident that these laws disproportionately affect Latinos. A separate study from last year found “a solid link between legislator support for voter ID laws and bias toward Latino voters, as measured in their responses to constituent e-mails.” And yet another study that was released earlier this year found that even in states without voter ID laws, Latinos were targeted: “Election officials themselves also appear to be biased against minority voters, and Latinos in particular. For example, poll workers are more likely to ask minority voters to show identification, including in states without voter identification laws.”

Some Republicans have explicitly made known their intentions of suppressing Latino and African-American voters in order to win elections. Over 30 years ago, ALEC-founder and co-founder of the Heritage Foundation Paul Weyrich spoke plainly:  “I don’t want everybody to vote…As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.” Republican after Republican has continued in his footsteps: An Ohio GOP County Chair stated he supports limits on early voting because, “I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to accommodate the urban – read African-American – voter-turnout machine.” Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzaibelieved voter ID laws would “allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania.” Former GOP Precinct Chair Don Yeltonused the “n” word as he tried to deny that a voter ID law in North Carolina was racist (and he explained that “the law is going to kick the Democrats in the butt”). Conservative activist and notoriouslyanti-immigrant Phyllis Schlafly said, “The reduction in the number of days allowed for early voting is particularly important because early voting plays a major role in Obama’s ground game.” Schlafly’s Eagle Forum endorsed Marco Rubio in his run for Senate (here’s a lovely picture of the two of them) and applauded Scott Walker for his opposition to legal immigration.

Via: Fox News Latino

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Mark Steyn Reveals Hillary Clinton Limo Incident That Shames NYT's Coverage of Rubio's Driving Record

Mocking the NY Times for all the attention they’ve given Marco Rubio’s driving record, Mark Steyn revealed something today from Hillary Clinton’s past that should put the NY Times to shame for focusing so much on Marco Rubio’s speeding tickets.

He explains how Clinton’s limo driver, back in 2001, in what he calls a ‘driving Miss Hillary’ situation, crashed through an airport security fence at 35mph with her in the back, injuring a police officer and only stopping because the police officer needed medical treatment.

Via: The Right Scoop

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Rubio Pushes Back Against NYT Story Citing Financial Imprudence

The Rubio campaign has hit back at a New York Times story Tuesday claiming that the Florida senator's personal financial habits have been "imprudent" and at times extravagant. 

"First, The New York Times attacks Marco over traffic tickets, and now they think he doesn't have enough money," said Rubio spokesman Alex Conant, according to USA Today. "Of course, if he was worth millions, the Times would then attack him for being too rich, like they did to Mitt Romney." 

Tuesday's story by the Times, headlined, "Struggles with Finances Track Marco Rubio's Career" said that Rubio stands out not only for his youth and dramatic political rise but also for persistent doubts about his personal financial management.

"A review of the Rubio family's finances — including many new documents — reveals a series of decisions over the past 15 years that experts called imprudent: significant debts; a penchant to spend heavily on luxury items like the [$80,000 speed] boat and the lease of a $50,000 2015 Audi Q7; a strikingly low savings rate, even when Mr. Rubio was earning large sums; and inattentive accounting that led to years of unpaid local government fees," the Times said.

The Times also said that, separate to his personal spending patterns, there were instances in which he intermingled personal and political money. He used a state Republican Party credit card to pay for a paving project to his home and travel to a family reunion. He also put relatives on campaign payrolls.

Conant said that Rubio has the same financial challenges as many Americans do and that he is not motivated by wealth.

"His goal at this stage in his life is to provide his four children with a good home, a quality education, and a safe and happy upbringing," Conant said in a statement, according to USA Today. 

"As he wrote in his book, 'the mark I make in this world will not be decided by how much money I make or how many titles I attain. Rather, the greatest mark I can leave is the one I will make as a father and a husband.'"

A separate story by the Times last week detailed how Rubio was cited four times in 18 years for minor traffic violations while his wife received 13.  The report said that the Rubios received tickets for violations that include speeding, driving through red lights, and careless driving. 

Via: NewsMax

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HARRY REID BLOCKS CHANGES TO NEVADA PRESIDENTIAL CAUCUS RULES

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Minority Leader 

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

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 is at it again.

Known for meddling in politics at all levels in his home state of Nevada, the Democrat intervened earlier this week to help kill a GOP-backed bill in the Legislature that would have allowed Nevada to trade its presidential caucuses for primaries, seen as friendlier to establishment candidates like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida 

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)

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 who might be tougher for Democrats to beat.

The surprise outcome exasperated Republicans from Las Vegas to Washington and served notice that even as Reid heads into retirement, Republicans will have to get around him if they hope to win Nevada in 2016. And it was just the latest move from a masterful tactician who rules his home state’s political scene like no other and is determined to keep the White House and his own Senate seat in Democratic hands though his name will never again be on the ballot.

“Harry’s an icon, there hasn’t been anybody in politics like him. Whether you like his politics or not he’s carved out a spot that quite frankly is unique in the history of Nevada politics,” said Republican 

Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV)

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, a former state party chairman. “He’s a results-oriented guy, and until we really hug ‘what are they doing, and how do we compete with that’ there’ll continue to be days where we struggle.”

For Reid, 75 and blind in one eye as the result of an accident while exercising earlier this year, working against the primary bill was just one of his recent moves designed to boost Democratic prospects in Nevada.

Some of his top lieutenants run the state Democratic Party and will be instrumental in working for presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. The former secretary of state and first lady surrounded herself with some of Reid’s allies in the immigrant community when she visited the state last month, and she plans another appearance in a couple of weeks.

Via: Breitbart

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Hillary's huge lead over the GOP? Maybe it never existed

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers a speech at Texas Southern University in Houston, Thursday, June 4, 2015. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

Through all of Hillary Clinton's recent troubles — emails, foundation, Benghazi — Democrats have taken comfort in their all-but-assured nominee's formidable lead over top Republicans in head-to-head matchups. Now that lead is shrinking, and the Democratic comfort level is falling along with it.

 

But it's possible Clinton's big lead was never as big as Democrats thought. Yes, some of the margins looked enormous:

* A CNN poll in March showed Clinton up by 15 points over Republican Jeb Bush, 13 points over Marco Rubio, 11 points over Rand Paul, and 15 points over Scott Walker.

* An ABC News poll in March showed Clinton up by 15 points over Rubio, 14 points over Walker, and 13 points over Bush.

* A CNN poll in April showed Clinton up by 22 points over Walker, 19 points over Paul, 14 points over Rubio, and 17 points over Bush.

Big margins. But at the same time, at least one other poll — by Public Policy Polling, the Democratic polling firm — showed Clinton with much more modest leads over her GOP rivals. A PPP survey in late February showed Clinton with an eight-point lead over Walker, a seven-point lead over Rubio, a seven-point lead over Paul, and a 10-point lead over Bush.

A PPP poll at the end of March showed Clinton with a four-point lead over Walker, a four-point lead over Paul, a three-point lead over Rubio, and a six-point lead over Bush — at a time the other polls showed Clinton far ahead of those rivals.

"I am definitely skeptical that Clinton was ever really up by 15 points like some of the early polls were showing," says PPP director Tom Jensen. The reason for those big leads, Jensen suggested in an email conversation, might have more to do with the other polls' methods rather than any overwhelming Clinton advantage.

We use tighter controls on who we call for our polls than most national surveys do. Although we don't do an actual likely voter screen this far out, we do pull lists based on people who have voted in at least one of the last three elections. So I think we end up with samples that are a little bit more conservative than if we were calling all adults or even just registered voters with no respect to voting history.

If Jensen and PPP are correct, then the core assumption of much political analysis in the last few months was little more than irrational exuberance. Now that Clinton is returning to earth in other polls as well — PPP has a new poll out in about 10 days — the question will be how Democrats react to the realization that there once-inevitable shoo-in president might not be an inevitable shoo-in after all.

Via: Washington Examiner

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Fox’s Greta Slams NY Times for Article on Rubio’s Traffic Citations

Fox New’s Greta Van Susteren has taken issue with a Friday article from the New York Times, describing the piece as “snarky” and a bit of “bad journalism.”

The Times piece, titled “Marco Rubio and his Wife Cited 17 times for Traffic Infractions,” describes Rubio’s history of citations for “speeding, driving through red lights and careless driving.” The article also describes multiple instances where the Rubios sought a lawyer’s help in order to challenge citations and avoid having their licenses suspended.

Van Susteren conceded that it was fair to examine a presidential candidate’s driving record, but took issue with the article’s presentation. She noted that the article, written by three people, was covered in a way that “jacked [its] number up” order to increase it’s own newsworthiness. She pointed to the headline, saying that it pinned all 17 citations on Mr. Rubio, when he only had 4 to his wife’s 13.

“Why are Mrs. Rubio’s driving infractions pinned on him? He wasn’t driving those 13 times, she was! The headline is written to pin her driving record on him. Headlines matter — that is what most people read and then stop. Collapsing the two driving records in that one headline smears the candidate. She is the one with the driving problem”

In one paragraph, the article described a 1997 citation Rubio received for careless driving, which was followed 12 years later by a ticket for speeding. Van Susteren questioned the use of Times resources here, saying that there was a difference between 12 years and 12 weeks, as well as how these infractions were far less serious than charges like drunk driving.

“Is the NYT going to scramble to every DMV and get stories on all the candidates’ stale driving records and the driving records of their spouses,” asked Van Susteren.

Van Susteren concluded her piece by saying that it was written neither for nor against the senator’s campaign. She also admitted to regrets in her own career in reporting, but urged the media to take use good judgment. “The media has limited resources (every news organization has cut back) and we should attempt to use them wisely – and fairly.

Via: Mediaite

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Limbaugh: American Left Has Made Christianity Its No. 1 Enemy

Rush Limbaugh said on his radio show on Wednesday that the American Left has made Christianity its "number one enemy." Limbaugh made the observation and explained it after playing an interview of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) by David Brody of CBN. In that interview Rubio suggested that mainstream Christian teaching was under assault from the left.

“You think Rubio's got a point there?" asked Rush. "You better not sweep this one away. You better not think this one was a little over the top. He is right on the money. This is exact. In fact, I would even go further. I think mainstream Christianity is the target, and has been for I can’t tell you how long. And before I was born, it's been, Christianity has been the biggest enemy of the American left, or any left – organized religion in general – but Christianity is the number one enemy of these people.”

“You notice, they’ve made friends with militant Islam,” Rush went on. “The left will not stand for any criticism of Islam, right? You start drawing cartoons of the prophet, they’re the first to jump on your case, right? Democrats and the left, they're out condemning any criticism of Islam."

“They’ve sided up, why?” asks Rush. “Well, Islam has an enemy. In their mind, their enemy is Christianity. So there’s a commonality there. And I don’t care. Folks, maybe this is just another one of those things you’re just not supposed to say, but I’m sorry. It’s undeniable.”

“Okay. Okay. Tell me I’m wrong,” urges Rush, “when I say that the left has formed an accord with Islam. Tell me I’m wrong.”

"Militant Islam says you can't draw pictures of the prophet," says Rush. "Democrat Party, you can't draw pictures of the prophet. You can't criticize Islam. And they go out of their way not to. We can't call them terrorists. You know the drill."

“Christianity it’s open season,” says Rush. “You can say anything. You can do anything. You can mock anything. And Christians are just supposed to take it. And the reason we’re just supposed to take it is we’re the majority. The majority just has to understand, minorities feel offended. They’re going to always be hit on, ripped apart and so forth. You just have to take it. It’s part of being a majority. And that is a relevant factor. I mean, majorities are hated by the people in the minority.”

“The problem for us is,” states Rush, “that the minorities we’re talking about here, most of them are really tiny, and yet they’re winning. They’re bullying their way around. It’s incredible. And Marco Rubio, here, is right on the money.”

Via: CNS News

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Here’s how Hillary Clinton, Marco Rubio, and more presidential hopefuls spent Memorial Day

“Memorial Day has always been a time of unity for our nation,” Marco Rubio opens a new Facebook video posted in honor of Monday’s holiday. “It’s a time when we put aside partisanship and politics and come together.”

About 20 seconds after talking about putting politics aside, the Republican presidential hopeful begins laying out a general overview of how the armed forces will be treated once he is in the Oval Office.

“As president, I will devote the necessary resources to our national defense,” he says, “I will ensure that they never are sent into a fair fight but rather are always equipped with the upper hand.”

The Florida senator wasn’t the only candidate to share Memorial Day-themed messages on Twitter and Facebook on May 25—although his were the most explicitly tied to his presidential campaign.

Hillary Clinton, Carly Fiorina, and likely candidates Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, and Bobby Jindal posted short messages on social media asking their followers to “remember” the sacrifices America’s servicemen and women have made over the years.

Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, and Rand Paularrived at the same destination by taking a different route, imploring their followers to “never forget” those sacrifices instead.

Dr. Carson and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who has yet to formally declare his candidacy, also shared a new Memorial Day tradition with their followers: the patriotic act of quoting oneself.

Via: Fusion

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Ted Cruz Closing in on Marco Rubio in Florida

On Wednesday night, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (TX-R) essentially tied Senator Marco Rubio in Florida Family Policy Council’s GOP Presidential Straw Poll in Orlando, Fl.

Marco Rubio got 30.7% of the vote whereas Ted Cruz came in a close second with 30.3%.

Jeb Bush and Scott Walker both came in third-place with 8.9% each, Rick Santorum 6.7%, Rand Paul 4.5%, Ben Carson 3.4%, Mike Huckabee 2.2% and Rick Perry 1.1%.

The other 2016 GOP candidates: Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal and John Kasich didn’t get any votes.

Political analysts have since viewed this poll as a victory for Ted Cruz. They say he is reinforcing the idea that America’s Conservative voters are deciding early who to rally behind.

The Florida Family Policy Council event was moderated by attorney John Stemberger. He provided an examination of individual candidate strengths and weaknesses prior to the straw poll vote. Decision leads included Carl Stevens, Florida Senator Alan Hayes, Sara Johnson, Byran Empric, Karin Hoffman and Pastor Kurt Kelly.

During the event, Senator Alan Hayes was also recognized for his accomplishments and dedication to successfully passing legislation protecting unborn children in the state.

Via: Shark Tank

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RUBIO IN NH: 2016 WILL BE A REFERENDUM ON OUR IDENTITY AS A NATION

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) enjoyed a warm reception at the New Hampshire Republican Leadership Summit. He built on the theme of optimism for America’s future that he spoke of in his presidential announcement speech, and he added some sharp criticism of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy.

Rubio started by noting that it had been a “fascinating week, probably the most historic of my life,” and then shifted into a bit of a stand up routine that seemed well-received. A reporter had asked whether Rubio thought that 43 was “old enough to be president.” Rubio’s reply: “I’m not sure but I’m pretty sure 44 is,” which is how old he will turn on his birthday this May. The Constitution only requires that the President be at least 35 years old, and our youngest President, John F. Kennedy, was 43 when he was sworn into office in 1961.

Rubio also joked that he had “worn more wires than an FBI informant” this week, due to all the media interviews. Regarding Hillary Clinton’s rumored plan to raise $2.5 billion for her campaign, Rubio quipped, “that’s a lot of Chipotle, my friends.”

Taking a more serious tone, Rubio said that running for President was “a decision one makes after a lot of thought and prayer.”

“I believe with all my heart that we are on the verge of another American century,” he continued, echoing the “New American Century” theme of his campaign. “Throughout all of human history, you could only go as far as your parents went before you,” said Rubio, but in America, we did not have such limits.

Rubio then spoke about his family, about how both of his parents had been born poor in Cuba, where “they found themselves in a society that told them…there are things you just cannot do because of who you are and where you come from.”

After coming to America, the Rubios found jobs, were able to raise their four children, own their own home, save for retirement, and leave their children better off. “They were never rich, never famous, but they were successful,” said Rubio, meaning that his parents had achieved the American dream.

However, said Rubio, today that American dream is in doubt for millions of Americans. “Why is this happening to the greatest country in human history?” he asked. The answer, according to Rubio: too many leaders stuck in the past. All was not lost, though, and “our future has the opportunity to be better than our history,” if America finds away to adapt to the twenty-first century.

America is “engaged in a global competition” for investment and talent, said Rubio, and is being held back by regulations that are crushing innovation, an excessive corporate tax rate, businesses that are not growing because of Obamacare, and energy policies that are blocking us from using our natural resources.

Via Breitbart

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Wasserman Schultz Welcomes Ted Cruz To Florida With A Big "Extremist" Hug

Florida Democrat Congresswoman and head of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Debbie Wasserman Schultz, is once again showing America how much fun it is for Democrats to sound divisive, as she has once again pulled out her “extremist” card in describing conservative elected officials, specifically Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who was in Florida for a few events.

In an interview with the Sun-Sentinel, Wasserman Schultz took issue with the Republican Party of Sarasota naming Cruz their “Statesman of the Year.” “We’re talking about a guy who just in his brief time in Washington – he hasn’t even been there but a year and a half – and he orchestrated the government shutdown that cost our economy $24 billion.

He opposed common-sense immigration reform, and that’s obviously important to many voters in Florida, and across the country.

 He supported the House Republicans’ goal of refusing to even take a vote on the legislation. Last week he voted not to pay our nation’s bills and forced a filibuster, more gridlock more obstructionism in the Senate and potentially brought us to the brink of default. He even voted against the Violence Against Women Act.-Rep. Wasserman Schultz (D) Wasserman Schultz

Here is the Sun Sentinel Q & A with Wasserman Schultz:

Q: There are plenty of conservative Republicans in our area, but it seems as if he might be out of touch with Republicans in southeast Florida?

Wasserman Schultz: Apparently not out of touch with Marco Rubio, our senator, our tea party senator. If you remember he told Politico last year that he thinks Cruz is going to be a superstar.

Marco Rubio himself has a tough time figuring out exactly where he is. He’s been pretty much a weather vane when he runs into controversy in his own party, on immigration reform especially. The Republican Party continues clearly to be engaged in a civil war.

They can’t future out who they are, where they are, how they want to define themselves. There’s a ton of finger pointing. I think that they’ve lost a bunch of races as a result, and I think that going into the 2014 election, that’s going to cause them more problems, particularly as they highlight a guy like Ted Cruz and allow Ted Cruz to be their leader who already forced a government shutdown and was willing to default and refused to pay our nation’s bills again just last week. I mean this is the person that they are lifting up as the statesman of the year.

Q: Do you think he’s the kind of Republican that voters in southeast Florida could cotton up to, warm up to?

Wasserman Schultz: The most extreme tea-partiers certainly could. And that seems to be who is dominating and leading the Republican Party of today…. Florida is a purple state … and they’ve repeatedly rejected extremism.

The Republicans keep lifting up leaders like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio who embrace that extremism, so I think as voters take a look at the choices they have leading into the 2014 election, it’s going to bode well for our Democratic candidates.

Via: Brietbart

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