Marco Rubio Proves his Influence in Florida

Next time Newt Gingrich wants to make an inaccurate statement in Florida, he'd better think twice.

The grass may not be too green in Florida for Newt Gingrich. Since the South Carolina Primary, he’s been making some interesting statements and releasing some even more interesting ads—some of which have been scolded by local Florida republicans.

As they court the Latino voters in Florida, the Gingrich campaign staff must think before they act; their “grandiose” strategy may be tipping the line. It probably began when Mr. Gingrich started calling Mitt Romney out on immigration, saying that his views are in-humane. This is not true. Mr. Romney supports a guest worker program and has a “self-deportation” view on illegal immigration. He thinks that if we make it hard for illegal immigrants to find work that they will leave voluntarily and go about citizenship the right way. While this approach may be a bit passive, it is not in-humane.

These comments got Mr. Gingrich in trouble with Vice President likely-to-be-hopeful, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. That sucks. Mr. Rubio is like the prize child of the Tea-Party and is well liked in the Latino community.  Mr. Rubio also scolded Mr. Gingrich for a Spanish-language radio ad that calls Mr. Romney “anti immigrant”. Mr. Rubio released a statement saying, “This kind of language is more than just unfortunate. It’s inaccurate, inflammatory, and doesn’t belong in this campaign. The truth is that neither of these two men is anti-immigrant.”

Well said Mr. Rubio; you could have added that Mr. Gingrich is desperate and dramatic but we’ll take it. Mr. Gingrich’s campaign staff pulled the ad immediately. I find it so interesting though. Not really the part about Newt Gingrich’s comments, he’s always talking silly. What’s interesting is the quickness in response his campaign staff had when Mr. Rubio expressed dissatisfaction. You could attest this to three things: the campaign staff understood Mr. Rubio’s importance as they seek to reach Latino voters, Mr. Gingrich realizing that Mr. Rubio is most likely to be his VP, or a combination of both. I think the third reason is a winner.