It sure looked like Marco Rubio was going to be the guy that Romney picked to be on the GOP ticket for November. Romney was heavily floating the idea that Rubio might be his man, mostly based on his desire to attract the Latino vote. In turn, Rubio was floating the idea of a Dream Act that would convince the "Dreamers", that they in turn, should convince others, that he was their savior.
Here in Arizona I heard some of the "leaders" of these Dreamers on Spanish language media outlets stating that they would support whomever gave them the Dream Act. Wow, talk about betraying the Latino community! Judas Escariot betrayed Jesus for thirty pence, I suppose the Dream Act for some of these Dreamers is their thirty pence. I mean, after all, it's the GOP that has systematically created laws to attack not just the Dreamers, but their parents as well. It was Willard that said he would unequivocally veto the Dream Act. Yet when Romney saw an opportunity to use a "Latino" U.S. Senator to attract the Latino vote, he jumped on it like flies on a steaming pile of dung on an hot Arizona summer day.
Willard & Marco didn't count on the fact that Obama was plotting and planning to make a move to seize the Latino vote, and in one fell swoop a series of incidents occurred that essentially assured Obama the 2012 Latino vote. It was almost as if the stars had aligned. Obama declares that the Dreamers would be able to come out of the shadows and receive a work permit that can be renewed every two years indefinitely, then SCOTUS rules on SB1070 striking most provisions as unconstitutional and allowing the show me your papers portion of the law to take effect, Obama, as if dueling with Arizona and the GOP, immediately pulls the 287g certification from Arizona's law enforcement agencies and further states that ICE officers will not pickup undocumented Immigrants being held for suspicion of being in the country unlawfully unless they were being charged with a felony. Romney's response? An attempt to one up President Obama by stating that it was not enough and that he would seek a longer term solution for the Dreamers.
Very few Latinos believed Romney, well, I suppose their are still those Dreamers looking for their thirty pence, but for the most part Romney is toast with the Latinos. There is less and less talk about Rubio being part of the veepstakes.
That's not stopping Rubio though. He's clearly still coveting that spot on the GOP ticket, and he's making sure that the conservative folk see him. I suppose it would be hard to miss him with his new sales tactic. He's pounding the street town by town as any self serving politician would do, selling his propaganda, I mean book, "An American Son." What makes this book tour interesting is Rubio's attempt to make sure you can't miss him, he's cruising around on a huge tour bus with his mug and his name plastered prominently on the side. It might as well say, An American Son looking to be an American Vice President.
Now that Rubio can't bring Romney the Latino vote, I suspect Romney's advisors will steer him towards someone who has more experience, can bring in the moderates and conservatives. Shall we say, someone, a bit more vanilla.
Carlos E. Galindo is a radio talk show host & political analyst conducting radio shows in both English and Spanish on four radio stations in Arizona. Mr. Galindo is a weekly contributor to KPFK 98.7 FM Los Angeles and W60 AM Radio, Los Angeles, San Diego and has appeared on CNN, Univision and Telemundo as a political analyst. Mr. Galindo is also an Op-Ed columnist on Prensa Hispana and the Tucson Citizen in Arizona. Carlos Galindo is President and founder of the Immigrant Advocacy Foundation, Inc.
http://www.carlosgalindo.com