Of the themes available for Marco Rubio's struggling presidential campaign, I'm going to suggest that "youthful boy wizard" is not among the best.
Leaders of a pro-Rubio super PAC sent a fundraising memo Sunday evening likening Marco Rubio to the youthful boy wizard Harry Potter and Donald Trump to the evil wizard Voldemort from the Harry Potter book series. [...]
"In Harry Potter lore, Voldemort, the Dark Lord, had a secret to his strength. His secret was his horcruxes," they wrote. "As each horcrux was destroyed, Voldemort became increasingly vulnerable, not increasingly strong. When all of the horcruxes were gone, Voldemort lost his one-on-one battle with Harry Potter."
In this case, says the Rubio super PAC Conservative Solutions, the "horcruxes" are ... Jeb Bush. And the other Republican candidates. They've been acting as Trump's darkling surrogates.
"Like Voldemort's horcruxes, the large candidate field shields Trump from harm. At each step of the primary process, Trump is losing his shields, and that is making him more vulnerable."
You may see the campaign so far as one of Donald Trump handily kicking boy wonder Marco Rubio's ass in three states now, with no indication that that's going to be changing anytime soon. Marco Rubio supporters prefer to see it as Marco Rubio cleverly damaging Donald Trump by getting his ass kicked.
I don't know about this. When your candidate is already dodging concerns that he looks like a high school debate club winner plopped down on the stage with the big boys, and one who is conspicuously prone to flubbing things in high-profile moments, comparing him to a literal Magical Child seems probably not the best choice. (And I'm sorry, but I don't see Marco Rubio as Gryffindor material. These things are easily looked up.) And there are so many other fictional heroes that better suit Marco Rubio's temperaments. Is there no love for I, Robot? No Blade Runner mentions? If you are going to compare your candidate to a boy wonder, why not the original Boy Wonder?
None of it will stick, I don't think. As any longtime fan of Mr. Rubio can tell you, there is only one fictional hero who perfectly encapsulates Marco Rubio's unique talents and attributes. For myself and many others, Marco Rubio is and will always be Aquaman.