I really don't know what to think of Marco Rubio. In the debate the other night, he froze up and kept repeating rehearsed lines, even in response to the accusation that all he could do was repeat rehearsed lines. As with Jeb Bush and that "please clap" line, I think it's possible to dwell too much on the little screw-ups and brain farts that candidates have when they're out there making speech after speech after speech after speech. I just haven't seen much of Rubio that suggests such moments are not the norm with him.
Far more damaging to me is how he falls in with this trend we're seeing of candidates making ridiculous, thoughtless promises as applause lines. Even if I was opposed to Obamacare and the Iran Deal, I would be horrified by pledges to repeal every word of them "on Day One of my presidency." Neither is something you can just do without endangering a lot of lives and creating chaos. Actions have consequences and I'm not impressed by any politician who makes a promise without addressing the consequences. Rubio does a lot of that.
But the oddest thing out of him lately is this: The other day, Rubio was pressing the flesh in a New Hampshire restaurant and he was confronted by a gay man who had heard Rubio's promises to appoint Supreme Court Justices who will make Gay Marriage illegal. The man challenged him on this and Senator Rubio said, "I just believe marriage is between one man and one woman."
A little more discussion ensued and then Rubio said, "I think that's what the law should be, and if you don't agree, you should have the law changed by the legislature."
Huh? It has been changed in New Hampshire…and it was changed long before the Supreme Court waded into this issue. Same-Sex Wedlock has been legal in that state since the beginning of 2010, due to legislation signed into law by the governor on June 3, 2009. How do you campaign in New Hampshire and not know that? Or at least know of the Supreme Court decision that made it unnecessary to have the law changed in any state?
When the gay man pointed that out, Rubio walked away. How did his man become a Senator?