Marco Rubio, the Future of the Republican Party?

Image Source: Business Insider

After an election that humbled the Republican Party and hopefully made its members look within themselves for some reinvention, the GOP have picked Marco Rubio as the person to respond to the President’s State of the Union address. Marco Rubio shines like a beacon of hope in a bleak GOP that has realized that the America they knew and loved has left them behind. With the percentage of African American and Hispanic voters increasing in every election, Marco Rubio seems like the most obvious answer. His name is everywhere these days. Already an early favorite for the 2016 elections and a cover on Time Magazine on the way, the national spotlight is officially on.


Marco Rubio, incase you live under a rock, is a US Senator from Florida with Cuban American roots.  Rumored to having been considered for the role of Vice President in Mitt Romney’s campaign, and nick named the Crown Prince of the Tea Party, it seems the republican’s prayers have been answered. A rising star in the GOP who can appeal to a vast amount of voters and is touted to have good orating skills seems like the obvious choice for a party who seeks renewal, at least on the surface.

But all that glitters is not gold, and Marco Rubio may not be the golden boy he appears. For example, everyone loves an immigrant success story, especially people in Miami. He’s always played up the story of how his parents were refugees escaping Fidel Castro’s communist regime. However reports surfaced in 2011 revealing that Rubio’s parents actually left Cuba in 1956, 3 years before Fidel’s revolution.  

When questioned about the allegations,  Mr. Rubio replied by saying:  

“The real essence of my family's story is not about the date my parents first entered the United States. Or whether they traveled back and forth between the two nations. Or even the date they left Fidel Castro's Cuba forever and permanently settled here. The essence of my family story is why they came to America in the first place; and why they had to stay”

Which may be a valid point, either way they were immigrants and had to make a life for themselves in a whole new country. But Rubio’s unapologetic response is worrisome. And when you remove an interest in immigration reforms, is Rubio different than any other republican in the GOP? Or is he just more of the same and a ploy to manipulate the Hispanic vote?

The question is: is the republican party really willing to compromise on some of it’s more outdated beliefs and move forward? Or are they hitting the panic button after an embarrassing election, and picking a young, Hispanic senator to lead them and draw in voters and appear to be modernized? Rubio, in both English and Spanish, will do the response to the State of the Union address, and he will speak about how his parents achieved the American dream with the help of limited government. You can decide on which it will be.