Marco Rubio Not Interested in 2012 Vice-Presidential Slot

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jan 10, 2011   |   2:43PM   |   Washington, DC

Marco Rubio is the highly-regarded new pro-life Hispanic U.S. senator from Florida who many political observers say is on the short list for a vice-presidential slot in 2012. No longer.

Rubio, who is attractive because of his social and fiscally conservative views and his status as a Latino with excellent communications skills who could appeal to Hispanic voters against pro-abortion President Barack Obama, says he’s not interested in being the running mate for a presidential hopeful in the next election.

“I’m flattered that people would ask that question, because I think they mean it in a complimentary way. But, by the same token, I recognize that this job — this one job that I wanted, I wanted to be a U.S. senator, not a vice presidential candidate, not a presidential candidate,” Rubio told 92.5 radio in Fort Myers.

“I didn’t run to use it as a stepping stone, I ran to because I wanted to be a U.S. senator,” he added.

“I’m not going to be able to do this job well unless I’m 100 percent committed to it,” Rubio added. “And even with 100 percent of my focus on it, it’s going to be a tough job. So I can’t afford any distractions, or any of these other things.”

Rubio has been mentioned even by other leading presidential contenders as both a possible presidential and vice-presidential candidate, including former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who told Fox News that Rubio might be “a presidential candidate some day.”
“If someone like Marco who has the right values, great principles, right resume and the willingness to make the sacrifices and run and serve for the right reasons, I would be their biggest supporter. I would be out there helping them,” Palin added.

“It’s a circus. You guys are part of the circus,” Rubio said at a press conference last week, according to a Daily Caller report.
“This is stuff (running for president) they talk about. They’ll talk about somebody else next week. I’m here to be a United States senator from Florida and the best senator I can. I mean that. That’s what I ran for and that’s what I want to be.”

During the Senate election in Florida, Rubio criticized former Gov. Charlie Crist for vetoing a bill that would have opted the state out of the abortion funding in the Obamacare health care law and allowed women considering an abortion to see an ultrasound of their unborn children beforehand. https://www.lifenews.com/2010/06/11/state-5185/

“Once again, Charlie Crist has put politics ahead of principled policy-making. Not only would this commonsense measure have provided women with vital information as they make a critical decision, but now Governor Crist’s veto also clears the way for taxpayer funding of abortion in Florida,” Rubio said.

“This veto will now make it harder for Florida to fight Obamacare, since the bill would have enabled our state to opt out of the abortion coverage mandate in the federal health care law,” he added.

“Even those who agree with the outcome of the Governor’s decision should be alarmed that an issue as serious and deserving of sober deliberation as this one was treated in such a calculating, political manner. Florida deserves a U.S. senator who will think issues through and let principles, not the politics of the moment, guide their decisions. Not surprisingly, his latest decision is only the latest in a long litany of examples in which Charlie Crist has broken his word to Floridians,” Rubio said.