Not sure how TBaggers and the GOP base will welcome this new revelation regarding Marco Rubio. First it turned out that he lied about his parents' story, now this new report showing that Marco Rubio was a Mormon at some point in his life. At least, according to Buzzfeed reporting.
Yes, how Evangelicals, who are suspicious of Mitt Romney because of his faith (deemed as non-christian by Evangelical leader like Franklin Graham), would feel knowing that Marco Rubio was Mormon at some point in his life before converting himself to catholicism back ?
In the compelling personal narrative that has helped propel Florida Senator Marco Rubio to national political stardom, one chapter has gone completely untold: Rubio spent his childhood as a faithful Mormon.
Rubio was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with his family at around the age of eight, and remained active in the faith for a number of years during his early youth, family members told BuzzFeed.
Rubio spokesman Alex Conant confirmed the story to BuzzFeed. Conant said Rubio returned to the Catholic church a few years later with his family, receiving his first communion on Christmas day in 1984 at the age of 13.
Marco Rubio had been rumored to be a potential VP nominee if Mitt Romney was to be the nominee in order to win TBaggers. It was already hard to believe that the GOP ticket would be built around a Northeastern Mormon and a hispanic Catholic. But this, as noted by Buzzfeed's McKay Coppins, revelation of Rubio's Mormon roots could further complicate his future.
The revelation adds a new dimension to Rubio's already-nuanced religious history—and could complicate his political future at a time when many Republicans see him as the odds-on favorite for the 2012 vice presidential nod. Vice presidential candidates are traditionally chosen to provide ethnic and religious balance to a ticket. Mitt Romney's Mormonism and Rubio's Catholic faith would already mean the first two members of minority traditions on a Republican ticket in American history. Rubio's Mormon roots could further complicate that calculation.
A sign that Rubio's aides see the story as potentially damaging: BuzzFeed's inquiries appear to have sent them into frantic damage-control mode, and after email inquiries from BuzzFeed — but minutes before Conant responded witha phone call this morning — a brief item appeared on the blog of the Miami Herald mentioning the Senator's religous past.
The story of Rubio's conversion to Mormonism, his enthusiastic immersion in LDS adolescent life, and his eventual departure from the church was recently related to BuzzFeed by two of the Senator's first cousins, Mo Denis, a Democratic State Senator in Nevada, and his sister Michelle—both of whom were close to his family at the time.