Marco Rubio's skin seems to be getting thinner as he keeps facing questions—and needling from Donald Trump—about his past use of a Florida Republican Party credit card for personal purchases. On Wednesday, Rubio was above it all:
“I’m going to continue to talk about the future of America.” Mr. Rubio added of Mr. Trump: “I can’t respond to everything he says, I wouldn’t be able to run a campaign.”
On Thursday, though, he changed his tune:
“I find it curious that Donald Trump, the only person in this race that’s filed for bankruptcy not once but four times, is attacking anybody’s finances,” Mr. Rubio told reporters Thursday after filing his papers of candidacy in the State Capitol to be on the New Hampshire primary ballot. (Mr. Trump has often deflected questions during interviews by saying that he, personally, has never declared bankruptcy, adding only his companies have done so and that, like other successful businesses, he has used bankruptcy and restructuring laws to enhance profits.)
Yes, that's the ticket. Bring up something Trump has been asked and has answered (however unconvincingly) several times without seeming to lose support over it.
There are differences here. Rubio flat-out lied about his record at the last Republican debate, for one thing, whereas Trump has only parsed the difference between personal and business bankruptcy. And Trump is not running as a regular guy just like you regular-guy voters. Rubio is, and the fact that he seems to have spent several years waving around the company credit card, using it for personal purchases without any repercussions, kind of puts a dent in his persona. I'm pretty sure if I charged a family trip or home repairs to the Daily Kos credit card (which I don't have anyway, BTW), I'd be in some trouble, you know? But that's effectively what Rubio did—and more, he had to pay back $2,400 after he was caught double-billing plane flights.
The fact that Rubio was caught off guard by this, thinking he could lie his way out of it in the debate and then move on, is another sign that his campaign may not be ready for the scrutiny that will come his way if he emerges as a leader in the Republican primary. These questions have been out there for years. Did he—and the supposed professionals on his campaign staff—think it wasn't going to come up in a presidential campaign? But Rubio seems to think it shouldn't be a problem, telling reporters that "It’s not a big deal and I don’t think the people will be impressed with it." If that's so, why didn't he just get it out of the way weeks or months ago so that he didn't face questions from reporters and attacks from Trump now, when more people are paying attention?