Marco Rubio, once seen as front-runner, has some catching up to do
Three years ago, Sen. Marco Rubio was heralded as the Republican Partys future.
After the GOPs stinging 2012 presidential loss, strategists prescribed the charismatic, young tea party favorite as the antidote to a fractured party someone who could even expand the base by attracting Latino voters.
He so dazzled the 2012 Republican National Convention when he introduced Mitt Romney that some called the conservative a transformational candidate not seen by Republicans since Ronald Reagan.
But despite the cheers that greeted the 43-year-old Florida senator as he announced his presidential bid Monday, the early buzz has faded. And after a political misstep over immigration reform, Rubio finds himself just another name in an increasingly crowded field of 2016 presidential rivals who have chipped away at what were once his strongest assets.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush, with his unmatched fundraising juggernaut, knocked off Rubio as the GOP establishment favorite. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is stealing the hearts of evangelicals and tea party activists. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is the new fresh face.
Now seen at best as a sleeper candidate, Rubio needs to reignite the excitement that once led the party to view him as a front-runner.
On Monday he tried to do exactly that. In front of nearly 1,000 supporters, he evoked his youth and his parents immigration from Cuba, displaying the skills that make him one of the party's more gifted communicators.
Now, the time has come for our generation to lead the way toward a new American century, he told the crowd at Freedom Tower in downtown Miami, known as the Ellis Island of the South for welcoming Cuban exiles.
Though some have questioned whether Rubio, a freshman senator with a young appearance and a thin legislative record, has the experience or commanding presence Americans expect of their president, Rubio presented his age as a benefit, drawing a contrast with older rivals like Bush, 62, and the Democratic front-runner, Hillary Rodham Clinton, 67.
Just yesterday, a leader from yesterday began a campaign for president by promising to take us back to yesterday, he said, referring to Clintons campaign kickoff Sunday.
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Marco Rubio, once seen as front-runner, has some catching up to do