Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
Florida freshman Sen. Marco Rubio (and
serial liar) is a hot bet for the GOP veep slot in 2012, as Republicans believe the Cuban American politician would somehow stem the bleeding with that demographic.
Us Latinos have always laughed at that notion. In a community defined by nationality (Puerto Ricans are quite different from Mexicans who are quite different from Dominicans), Cuban Americans are from a whole different world. It would never be enough that Rubio speaks Spanish because, quite frankly, his American experience is dramatically different from that of any other Latino. For starters, national policy is to unquestioningly welcome Cuban immigrants with open arms as long as they set foot in the United States.
There is no such thing as a Cuban "illegal immigrant."
Anyway, a pollster decided to ask Latino voters what they thought of a Rubio veep. Turns out, not much.
Putting Florida Sen. Marco Rubio on the Republican presidential ticket would result in a net gain of virtually no Latino votes for the GOP, a new poll shows.
While 24 percent of Hispanic voters surveyed said they would be more likely to vote Republican if Rubio appeared on the ballot, that was nearly canceled out by the 21 percent who told pollsters they would be less likely to vote Republican if the Cuban-American senator is the party’s vice presidential nominee, according to the Latino Decisions poll Monday.
Of those who said they'd be more likely to vote GOP, chances are that most are Cuban and already likely to vote GOP. So demographically, Rubio wouldn't deliver anything that Gingrich (or whoever) won't deliver himself. And given his running feud with the Spanish-language behemoth Univision (which reaches 95 percent of all Latino households in the country), that won't change anytime soon.
Still, a Rubio selection wouldn't necessarily be designed to appeal to Latino voters, most of whom will vote Democratic regardless. Rather, he could serve a similar role to Herman Cain—as a prophylactic against charges of bigotry. Cain never stood a chance for the nomination, yet by pretending to support him, they also pretended to being tolerant and non-bigoted.
In other words, it would allow Republicans to feel better about themselves, without actually having to change their bigoted ways.