Prospect of Hillary Clinton-Marco Rubio Matchup Unnerves Democrats

[Purveyor]

WASHINGTON — They use words like “historic” and “charismatic,” phrases like “great potential” and “million-dollar smile.” They notice audience members moved to tears by an American-dream-come-true success story. When they look at the cold, hard political math, they get uneasy.

An incipient sense of anxiety is tugging at some Democrats — a feeling tersely captured in four words from a blog post written recently by a seasoned party strategist in Florida: “Marco Rubio scares me.”

What is so unnerving to them at this early phase of the 2016 presidential campaign still seems, at worst, a distant danger: the prospect of a head-to-head general-election contest between Mr. Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Yet the worriers include some on Mrs. Clinton’s team. And even former President Bill Clinton is said to worry that Mr. Rubio could become the Republican nominee, whittle away at Mrs. Clinton’s support from Hispanics and jeopardize her chances of carrying Florida’s vital 29 electoral votes.

Democrats express concerns not only about whether Mr. Rubio, 43, a son of Cuban immigrants, will win over Hispanic voters, a growing and increasingly important slice of the electorate. They also worry that he would offer a sharp generational contrast to Mrs. Clinton, a fixture in American politics for nearly a quarter-century who will turn 69 less than two weeks before the election.

MORE...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/23/us/politics/prospect-of-hillary-clinton-marco-rubio-matchup-unnerves-democrats.html?_r=0

[merrily]

1. Really? Rubio is supposed to unnerve me? Why? Because he has Cuban/Mormon ancestry?

Listen, I've heard of grabass, but never of grabglass. One gif of that and I'll have to swear off water for a while so I don't wet my linen.

Other than that, my nerves are fine. He has precious little gravitas and this much depth ____________________________________ .

[BeyondGeography]

2. He's a scaredy guy

[davidpdx]

25. Especially when he's going for that bottle of water

[kimbutgar]

3. Sorry this guy is an idiot, liar and has some skeletons in his closet

Is this another one of those Karl Rove stories to unnerve democratic voters.? Rubio has flipped on immigration and the Latino community sees him as a phony panderer. They call him Falso Latino and he has a R next to his name. The only place pushing him will be Fox Latino network.

[onehandle]

4. I was 'unnerved' by him for a while. He would take a certain percentage of Latinos.

Latinos that just want to see a 'Latino' President.

However, he has been pretty clownish for the last few years.

And the GOPNRAteahadist base has become older and more racist, so I don't think he'd make it to nomination.

[misterhighwasted]

5. Rubio is a child. I doubt Hillary is unnerved by anyone in the clown car.

If all Rubio has is the Hispanic voter then he's dumber than already presumed.
Hillary is quite loved by the Hispanic population.
They are well aware of how the GOP has consistantly worked to diminish their value.

The Clinton Team is more likely ROFL at the NY Times article.

[Reter]

9. Bill Clinton was a child to Poppy Bush in 1992

Age doesn't have much to do with it. I think she would beat him, but not because he's young.

[misterhighwasted]

10. I'm not referring to age difference.

Rubio is a child, a little toddler in comparison to Hilary's experience level in politics & world affairs. The people she knows & leaders she has dealt with globally as well as since her college days.
Rubio isn't even able to discuss Politics or World affairs from the same perspective as Sec of State, NY Senator, & First Lady of the State of Arkansas and the United States of America, Hillary Rodham Clinton

[Reter]

16. Switch Rubio for Bill Clinton and Poppy Bush for Hillary

George HW Bush had tons of foreign policy experience, and young Bill Clinton at age 45 (for most of 1992) had none. Bill was a "toddler" compared to Poppy, "the people he knows & leaders he has dealt with globally as well as since his college days."

See where I'm going? That's how 1992 looked. Poppy still lost in a landslide. Like I said before, I don't think Hillary Clinton will have much trouble with Rubio, but it won't be because of experience. Voters don't care about that at all, as much as it's played up to be.

[OKNancy]

6. as the article says, "he may be Hispanic, but he is not on the side of Hispanics"

Plus...................... we have this guy



Plus....... he's Cuban Hispanic ( a minority of the Hispanic population, mostly found in Florida )


Plus he is a Republican

[libdem4life]

7. Marco Rubio is Cubano...Julian Castro is Tejano. Further apart than our racial divide. The Hispanic

community, is as you say, Not a solid voting block. California Latinos/Tejanos are traditionally democratic. And young Latinos/Hispanics tend to be more liberal.

I think whoever gets the nomination, must take a very hard look at including this man. Obama brought him to Washington for more exposure...hope it's enough...his experience is a bit scarce in the land of Washington/national politics. But also he is reportedly scandal free, for the most part.

[misterhighwasted]

11. What a Beautiful picture of a beautiful future VP & future President

Thanks!!
Marco who???

[hrmjustin]

8. i am not scared 8f him.

He is the little Engine that couldn't.

[lunamagica]

12. Is this The Onion?!?!??!

Even a great number of Cuban-Americans don't care for this clown. He embarrasses them and don't want him near the White House.


Scared?

[misterhighwasted]

13. I'm guessing NYTimes had to seriously think hard to put together a "fear of Rubio"

.article.
Some days all you can do is try.
I'd give it one-star just for effort, anyway.

[DavidDvorkin]

14. Oh, golly, don't throw us in that briar patch!

[RBInMaine]

15. She'd beat that rank amateur like a steel drum.

[Evergreen Emerald]

17. Lol

everyone loves to make shi* up about Clinton.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

18. I was part of a Cuban American study group when I was at UCF

I was the only non Cuban in a Cuban American study group at the University Of Central florida. They were super smart and uber motivated... They all went on to do well with three becoming lawyers.

That being said their American experience is sui generis. It's different than economic immigrants from other Latin American countries...

I lived in Orlando which had a large Puerto Rican/Dominican community. I lived in Miami which, of course, had a large Cuban community, and I now live in L A which has a large Mexican Community...To suggest they are a monolith is incorrect... A Latino will tell you this.

Mr. Richardson said that would poison his chances with Hispanic voters. “His own Hispanic potential would defeat him,” he said.

It is also unclear how much Mr. Rubio would appeal to Puerto Ricans, Mexicans and other voters with Latin American ancestry who may not feel much cultural affinity with a Cuban.

Also, Rubio supports the wet foot , dry foot policy which allows Cubans to be eligible for citizenship as soon as they touch American land, no other group has that privilege including other Latinos.

That will burn...

That being said I believe HRC beats all Republicans but Bush lll and Rubio will provide the biggest challenge.

[Chan790]

21. Glad you mentioned this.

I worked for a few years in an office with 2 Salvadorians, a Guatemalan, a Bolivian, a Spaniard, a Cuban-American born in Miami and her Afro-Brazilian boyfriend. They all spoke Spanish as a first language except the Brazilian who spoke Spanish as a second language.

None of them considered themselves Latino or Hispanic as a primary identifier...they considered themselves respectively Salvadorian, Guatemalan, Bolivian, Spanish, American and black. More than that...they were often a lot more culturally-bigoted towards each other than one would expect. They were more different than alike culturally.

There is simply no Spanish-speaking unified cultural bloc no matter how much some pundits want to conceptualize a Latino monolith.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

22. Two anecdotes

None of them considered themselves Latino or Hispanic as a primary identifier...they considered themselves respectively Salvadorian, Guatemalan, Bolivian, Spanish, American and black. More than that...they were often a lot more culturally-bigoted towards each other than one would expect. They were more different than alike culturally.

My best friend growing up was 50% Puerto Rican, 25% Cuban, and 25% Irish , his last name was Kennedy. He said when he went back to Puerto Rico and someone was acting for lack of a better word, goofy, they would say "Cuban."

When I lived in Miami I was reading a comment section of the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel and the non Cuban Latinos were complaining at their place of business the Cuban bosses was giving the best job to other Cubans.


...

They do share a common language and that helps them communicate with each others but so do Americans, Australians, Canadians, and the British, et cetera and we certainly aren't all alike.

[tavernier]

27. You are so right.

I live and work in south Florida. Most of my colleagues are from Latin countries. Because the majority are Cuban, the others, whose primary language is Spanish, tend to be assumed to be Cuban. But not for long. They will quickly announce their nationality, and quite often act insulted when being called Cuban. I've heard several explanations as to why this is, and they range anywhere from pure racism to politics to age old rivalries amongst nations. But whatever the reason, we should not assume that simply being "Latino" will garner all the Latino votes.

[FSogol]

20. Bwhahahahahahah, wait, are they serious? Are we supposed to believe this?

x ∞

[joshcryer]

23. The whole piece relies on Steve Schale's analysis.

Which in turn relies solely on "identity politics" (Obama won because African-Americans voted for him, yes, Steve Schale actually says that; "identity politics that galvanized African American voters behind Obama&quot .

Nevermind that African-Americans are the most consistent bloc voters for Democrats of all demographics.

Shallow analysis.

[MaggieD]

24. He doesn't unnerve me.....

He's a complete idiot and it shows every time he opens his mouth. He will beat himself if he gets into the spotlight.

[davidpdx]

26. The real folly of their story is that Clinton would have to win Flordia

There are plenty of scenarios (if she were the nominee) where she could win without Florida. In fact Rubio would have to try to pick off Ohio, Wisconsin, and Iowa (in addition to Florida) to get within striking distance of 270. All three have gone for us in the last two elections.

[forthemiddle]

28. Young, charasmatic, minority, good looking 1st term Senator

Your right, no way He could ever become President.............

[DemocratSinceBirth]

30. The difference is African Americans vote alike, , most Latinos don't/NT

[lunamagica]

32. Charismatic?

Sorry, I don't see it...

As for "good-looking". To me the only good looking thing about him is his youth, nothing else.

[Pisces]

29. Ha, what a joke. No one is worried about dry mouth Rubio. He stands zero chance to become the

nominee. Hispanics are not monolithic and Cubans are not Mexican Americans. Cubans are more likely to be Republican
than Mexican Americans.Why is the NY Times trying to create some tension? Is it that the race is so boring? Rubio is a joke
and will not threaten Hillary. He is running for VP.

[DonCoquixote]

31. let a Florida boy soother these concerns

Jeb's main appeal is that he and only he can deliver Florida. if marco beats him out, The bushes will ensure revenge is taken. It also does not help that Rock Scpott has ambitions for the office, ambitions that would be help if Clinton wins and the current clown car of GOp crashes.

[craigmatic]

33. Hillary will have problems beating Rubio's optics. He looks like the future. He's a decent speaker

and he brings FL. Outside of these things Hillary would have an advantage.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

34. Who else checked the link for The Onion?

[BlueStater]

35. Great election. A stage hog vs. an empty suit.

I think I'll vote for slashing my own wrists as a third option.

[quadrature]

36. Hillary should hire a speech-giver

my suggestion is that the Party should
hire Bill Clinton to give speeches for HRC.
The only down side is that Bill charges $500K a pop.