There was a lot to like in Marco Rubio’s de facto victory speech in Iowa last night after finishing just five points behind Ted Cruz—the Florida senator reprised Bill Clinton’s buoyant remarks after the “Comeback Kid” finished a distant second to Paul Tsongas in the 1992 New Hampshire primary—especially his not-so-subtle re-embrace of non-nativist immigration reform. He arrived in New Hampshire ahead of next week’s contest with renewed chutzpah, and as the GOP’s “establishment” (what’s left of it) candidate of choice. He also picked up the endorsement of South Carolina’s Sen. Tim Scott, which if the latter works the ground, has to help Rubio with the black vote.
Who knows if he can pull it off, but I’d far prefer Rubio to Cruz or Donald Trump to take on Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton in November. If he doesn’t mangle his words too much—Rubio’s smart and well-spoken, but can get flustered—he’s the GOP’s best chance to win the White House. Yet there’s one aspect of Rubio’s candidacy that really repels me—not a disqualifier, but noxious all the same—and that’s his constant invocation of God. Monday night was typical: before acknowledging his family, Rubio said, “I want to thank an all powerful and mighty God for the chance that He has given us to be a part of this endeavor here in Iowa.” As we used to say in the 1970s, Earth to Marco: God had nothing to do with it! I understand that Rubio was pandering to the Evangelical vote in Iowa, but jeepers creepers.
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