Endorsement — No Risky Bets: Marco Rubio, For President

I’ve seen enough. Let’s keep this simple:

1. Landslide potential. No other candidate has the potential to appeal to as many people from as many different backgrounds in as many states. While a number of candidates could beat a weak Hillary Clinton, Rubio has landslide potential. And with many swing-state Senate seats up for grabs, a broadly appealing top-ticket candidate is a must.
2. Happy Warriorism. His arguments aren’t fueled by hate and anger and by attempts to be divisive and to mock and ridicule 90% of the Republican party. More than any other candidate, he speaks of hope and opportunity.
3. He’s Ready for Hillary. Rubio is running a broadly-appealing, general election-style campaign — in the primary. He’s not running to one small portion of the party just to win the nomination. His themes today would be the same themes against Hillary.
4. He’s survived months of attacks from Democrats, the Clinton machine, the mainstream media and, bizarrely, conservative media. He will never be radical enough for the the conservative entertainment establishment, but no serious, electable candidate ever could be. And these alleged “conservatives” — some I’ve previously collaborated with — go out of their way to destroy Rubio while propping up Donald Trump for months. Seriously people…
5. Debatable: If conservatives actually talked about a solution to illegal immigration, we’d probably find that we aren’t that far apart. Today, conservatives are closer in thinking than we ever have been on the issue, yet some have decided to make an already divisive issue more so. If you want to be skeptical of Rubio on immigration, be skeptical. I’d advise being skeptical of all politicians, at all times. But his current position on immigration is both the correct one, and one in the mainstream of conservative thinking. Some candidates will have you believe they are willing to deport 11 million people to avoid being linked as “similar” to Rubio. They are lying.
6. He’s the least establishment establishment candidate ever. He typically ranks between 1st and 4th out of 100 Senators on nearly every ideological measure, even though he comes from purple Florida. (The handful marginally ahead of him usually come from deep red states.) And Despite the best efforts of so-called “conservatives” in the for-profit conservative activism industry, Rubio remains popular with voters across the board. He regular rates — next to Carson — as one of the most popular Republicans across the ideological spectrum.
7. Foreign Policy: No candidate has spoken on foreign policy issues with as much clarity as Rubio. When the rest of the party started shifting to a more hands-off, libertarian model, Rubio stayed firm. The Obama way failed. He was right. I trust Marco Rubio.
8. Ideas: I love his ideas on higher education and economic growth. He has offered smart proposals to counter Hillary’s attacks on issues ranging from family leave to “free” community college. He has proven he has the ideas to be ready for battle.
9. He’s easy to relate to. Romney lost the “feels your pain” battle big in 2012. Rubio wins that battle, especially against Hillary. And that empathy could prove more important than any single issue.
10. He can win. Yes, this was already first on the list, but it’s a pretty important detail. We can’t afford another 4 years of what we are dealing with. We can’t afford a nominee who is not ideologically up to task, not ready for primetime, or who is willing to run so far to the right in order to appease a vocal minority that they kill any chances at obtaining a winnable majority in a general election. He can speak to Hispanics and young people in ways no previous nominee could. What if he gets them to open their ears for once?

We can’t have a risky bet. Marco Rubio is no risky bet.