The story goes that in 2009 Bill Clinton called a major political donor. Supposedly, he said to this donor, “ There's a young man from the Florida legislature named Marco Rubio who is running for senator against Charlie Crist. We need to stop this baby while he's still in the crib, or he will end up becoming president.” The postscript to the story is that the donor apparently did research on Rubio and then became a supporter of all of Rubio’s campaigns.
Whether the story is true or not is inconsequential. It speaks to how Rubio has been considered for 15 years by people like Clinton: an intelligent force to be reckoned with.
Now, Donald Trump has reportedly chosen him to be his secretary of state in yet another demonstration of the president-elect's strategic brilliance in both the short and long term.
Sen. Rubio is the perfect candidate for this cabinet position with his experience in both intelligence and foreign relations. I was blessed to see a demonstration of Rubio’s acumen personally at a small brunch in 2015 following the Republican primary debates at the Ronald Reagan Library. There were about 20 people at the brunch, and everyone had his own question for the senator. What impressed me immediately was that, although everyone had a different issue, Sen. Rubio expressed an understanding of each challenge and offered a potential solution. As an example, when someone spoke to him about post-high school education, Rubio expressed that he felt more money from the government should be put into trade schools. His belief at that time was that America had a greater need for electricians and plumbers than for people with degrees in women's studies, etc. Each issue — immigration, abortion, the economy, and more — held to the same pattern: he expressed an understanding of the challenge and posed a workable solution. Whether I agreed with him or not on his potential solutions, it was clear immediately that this was a man who did not make off-the-cuff remarks but instead was educated on a multiplicity of issues and had done personal research.
When I asked him about Israel, again his comments were insightful and even included a point I had not thought of prior to that day. He pointed out that not only is Israel the only democracy in the region, but the entire world knows how deep an ally Israel is to the United States. He went on to point out that if America betrayed Israel, all other allies of the United States would pay attention, and not in a good way. They would feel that if America was willing to betray their alliance with Israel, it would only be a matter of time before the U.S. would betray their nation, too.
As a result, Rubio said that a betrayal of the American-Israeli alliance would result in many of our other allies around the world, such as Japan, England, etc., tying themselves to another power, such as Russia or China. Although my understanding and passion for Israel have always been intense, I had not thought of that global understanding before that day. It had never occurred to me before that other nations would see how the United States treats Israel and then determine their own relationship with America as a result. It impressed upon me how brilliant this young senator from Florida really was.
It cannot be stressed enough that Trump's strategic brilliance in reportedly appointing Rubio as secretary of state is nothing short of genius. It ensures having a secretary of state who truly understands foreign relations. It is a strong statement of Trump's support of Israel and his commitment to the American-Israeli relationship. It places a man of knowledge and experience into one of the most important cabinet positions, and it allows Trump to be confident in his spokesman for the administration's foreign policy.
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Having Rubio in this position will clearly benefit President Trump over the next four years. But Trump's brilliance in this choice can also be seen as long-term for the nation.
One of the most foolish things that the Democrats did in this last election cycle was to anoint Kamala Harris as the nominee. While an open convention may have caused some problems (would the election results really have been any worse for the Democrats than the failure Harris ultimately delivered?), it also would have brought different Democratic leaders to the national forefront. The country would have seen a younger, new generation of Democratic leadership. Because there was no convention, now there are no Democratic leaders on the bench for national office.
Yes, there are a couple of governors people know of nationally, but who will ever vote for the governors of states like California or Michigan that Democratic policies have destroyed? There are probably some terrific and strong Democratic congressmen and senators, but with the exception of the extremists like Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Adam Schiff, do any of them have nationally recognizable names? Does anyone outside of political junkies even know who they are? The simple truth is that most of this nation is unaware of any Democratic leaders who are actually electable for national office.
While naysayers claim that President-elect Trump only looks out for himself, if we look at his selections already being discussed, including Rubio, we see he is actually looking toward a long-term future for the Republican Party and the country. Whether it is Rubio, Elise Stefanik, or JD Vance, Trump is consciously guiding a younger generation of Republican leaders into the national limelight. He is demonstrating again that the leftist portrayal of him as a selfish narcissist is the exact opposite of who he is. He is setting up with his choices an entirely new generation of Republican leaders on the national level — something we can all appreciate.
Whether you like or dislike Rubio as a man, senator, or in his (reportedly) new position as secretary of state, he is a brilliant choice by Donald Trump. It is yet another demonstration that Trump truly cares for the success of this nation and its future.
May President Trump's choices continue to be brilliant and serve this nation now and for generations to come.
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