This week, political junkies made much of Sen. Marco Rubio's sudden re-emergence in the national media after three months of almost total silence. Some people -- by which I mean "I" -- thought Rubio's invisibility was a sign that his celebrity had ebbed -- that he'd permanently ceded star power to Florida's more voluble Republicans, Rick Scott and Allen West. Not so!
Marco Rubio is back, folks. His ascension to celebritude began
Monday, when he emerged as the Senate's most outspoken critic of
"continuing budget resolutions" -- stop-gap legislation, which allows the
government to remain in business as leaders hash out an agreeable
budget. He'd lent his signature to a letter opposing such resolutions
the previous week, but it wasn't until Monday that he took the fight to
the airwaves, giving smart, poised, and angry interviews to Laura
Ingraham and Mark Levin.
And then -- bam! He was everywhere! Receiving presidential endorsements
from Rush Limbaugh; getting shortlisted for the 2012 Veep spot by
political prophet Larry J. Sabato; even emerging as a passionate Libya
hawk in an encounter with the State Department. The blogosphere went
wild, and across the nation, the name "Marco Rubio" issued from
Republican lips like a little prayer. Unless something very weird
happens, we'll be hearing that name a lot more in the weeks to come.
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