Marco Rubio has until Friday to file paperwork to seek re-election to his seat in the U.S. Senate.
When he launched his bid for president, Rubio indicated he would not run for re-election to the post. Now he’s had a change of heart.
GOP candidates who have spent months laying the groundwork for their own campaigns, appear ready and willing to clear the field for Rubio.
But are voters ready to embrace Rubio or has he lost his luster?
Six years ago, Rubio waged a spectacular long-shot campaign for the U.S. Senate. He entered the primary against then-Gov. Charlie Crist who was at the high-water mark of his political career. Rubio drove all over the state, speaking to small GOP gatherings. Floridians admired Rubio’s firm stance on fundamental issues while Crist chased the political winds. Little by little, Rubio ascended in the polls as Crist desperately fluttered. Rubio elbowed the sitting governor out of the GOP primary and into an independent bid.
In The Villages, Rubio was a dazzling campaigner. He brought along his beautiful wife and adorable children. He joyfully hopped into a golf cart and took a trip around the square.
In November 2010, Rubio glided to victory in a three-way field that also included Democrat Kendrick Meek.
And then he went to Washington D.C.
And Iowa. And New Hampshire.
In his six years in the U.S. Senate, Rubio made four treks back to Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.
• On July 2, 2012 while basking in the speculation that he might be Mitt Romney’s running mate, Rubio came to Barnes & Noble to hawk copies of his “memoir.”
• On Oct. 1, 2012, Rubio came to The Villages to prop up a rally for U.S. Senate hopeful Connie Mack who was dusted a month later by incumbent Bill Nelson.
• On Sept. 28, 2015, Rubio drew a respectable crowd at Eisenhower Recreation Center as he tried to gather steam for his presidential bid.
• By March 13 of this year, Rubio was the in last gasps of a dying campaign when he tried to make a last stand with a rally at Rohan Recreation Center. Many in the crowd wondered why Rubio had “imported” military veterans from elsewhere in the state to join him on the stage that day rather than select “legitimate” stage props from right here in The Villages with its enormous veteran population.
After an embarrassing trouncing by Donald Trump in his home state, the Rubio tent folded.
In the Florida primary, Rubio lost every precinct in The Villages to Trump.
There had been plenty of signs of what was to come.
In February, Rubio had been thumped in a GOP presidential straw poll among The Villages Republican faithful. The few who attempted to speak out in favor of Rubio, were shouted down by the boisterous Trump crowd.
During a Trump golf cart rally in The Villages in early March, many complained that Rubio had lost touch. That he had little to show for his five and a half years in the U.S. Senate. That the few times he returned to The Villages, he had his hand out.
So if Rubio decides to run for re-election, will Villagers rediscover the romance? What do you think he should do? Take our poll:
