Marco Rubio Heads To Washington
(CBS4) -- Marco Rubio headed to Washington, D.C. Monday, perhaps the brightest new star in a political universe filled with new faces.
The Miamian and other freshmen legislators are on Capitol Hill this week for orientation sessions. Rubio will formally assume his new duties as Florida's junior U.S. Senator in January.
In the lame duck session, though, don't expect newcomers-in-waiting in a freshly energized Republican Party to sit quietly by.
Case in point: Rubio is already crossing swords on federal earmarks. He's against the long cherished practice in which lawmakers find ways to bring home the bacon, by holding back their support for major appropriations bills until millions of dollars in "earmarks" are put in to benefit the folks in their district.
The Republican Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, is one "old guard" lawmaker who does not want to end that practice.
And Florida's senior U.S. senator, Democrat Bill Nelson, tried to convince Rubio of the necessity for earmarks when they met Monday. Nelson said, "I gave him the example of bringing a nuclear aircraft carrier to Mayport (for permanent basing.)"
Rubio was not swayed and reminded reporters he will help lead the charge against earmarks, which he said is a down payment on saving billions of dollars in federal revenue.
Dr. Sean Foreman, a political analyst at Barry University, told CBS4's Michael Williams, "What he (Rubio) can be is an important voice. He can talk about some of the issues he talked about in the campaign, like reforming Social Security, cutting the debt. But he really needs to rally the troops and get national Republicans on his side if changes are going to be made."
Foreman went on to note, "The Democrats still control the White House and Senate so we will probably see a lot of gridlock and it is going to be hard for Republicans to deliver on their campaign promises."
Perhaps so, but a pursuit of gridlock may be a recipe for short lived political careers on all sides, as voters hunger for solutions instead of gamesmanship in this time of economic and political anxiety.
