Rising conservative star Marco Rubio paid homage to President Ronald Reagan Tuesday when the Florida Republican senator spoke at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library as he continued a swing through California, raising his national profile and speculation that he is angling for the vice presidential spot on the 2012 Republican ticket.
Before giving the speech there was a little drama: Rubio came in with former first lady Nancy Reagan,now 90, who had a fall, and Floridas junior senator helped her recover.
In his remarks, Rubio praised the conservative icon who served as Americas 40th president.
Mrs. Reagan, thank you for this opportunity. And in a moment Ill talk a little about what this opportunity means to me in general, but let me just say it is one of the highest privileges and honors Ive ever had to be able to come here and speak in this place, said Rubio. And earlier today I was able to walk through here, and not just to see the exhibits but to meet the people, some from all over the world, that were touched by the extraordinary life of an extraordinary man. The contributions that he made to this country were tremendous, but the contributions he made to the world were even greater. And in just an hour and a half of walking through here and meeting people who had been touched by those contributions, it reminded me what a privilege it is that I would get to stand here today and speak to all of you from a place like this, and I am honored beyond any words that I could use to describe it and I thank you for this invitation. Thank you.
In fact I have a distinct honor, because not many people can say that the only two people I have ever walked down the aisle with are here today. One is my wife Jeanette and the other is Mrs. Reagan, continued Rubio. I tell people all the time that I was born and raised in Ronald Reagans America. ... He was elected when I was in fourth grade and he left -- he left office when I was in high school. Those are very important years, fourth grade through high school; they were the years that formed so much of what today ... I believe and know to be true about the world and about our nation.
Ronald Reagans era can be defined, No. 1 most peoples mind, by the Cold War and by the end of it. And by the strong principles he stood for. Ronald Reagan didnt just believe that the Soviet Union and communism could fail, he believed it was inevitably destined to fail. And that it was our obligation to accelerate that process. That all we had to do was be America and that that would happen, said Rubio. And that defined his presidency. And that defined Ronald Reagans America in the time that I lived. The time that I grew up during that era.
There was something else, though, that defined the Reagan presidency and that was defining the proper role of government. He did that better than any American has done ever before, said Rubio. And I stand before you --it has always been important for Americans and America to do that --but I stand here before you today, all of us gathered here today, at a time when defining the proper role of government is as important as it has ever been.
Praising Reagans leadership, Rubio took aim at the size and scope of the federal government.
Today we have built for ourselves a government that not even the richest and most prosperous nation on the face of the Earth can fund or afford to pay for. An extraordinary tragic accomplishment, if you can call it that, said Rubio. And that is where we stand today. And so, if defining the proper role of government was one of the central issues of the Reagan era, it remains that now. The truth is that people are going around saying that, well, were worried about let me just add something to this because I think this is an important forum for candor.
Rubio took aim at President Barack Obama but insisted that the president was not alone to blame for the current fiscal situation.
I know that it is popular in my party to blame the president, the current president. But the truth is, the only thing this president has done is accelerate policies that were already in place and were doomed to fail. All he is doing through his policies is making the day of reckoning come faster, but it was coming nonetheless, said Rubio. What we have now is not sustainable. The role of government and the role that government plays now in America cannot be sustained the way it is. Now some are worried about how it has to change, we have to change it. The good news is it is going to change. It has to change. Thats not the issue. The issue is not whether the role that government now plays in America will change. The question is how will it change. Will it change because we make the changes necessary? Or will it change because our creditors force us to make these changes?
During his trip to California -- which also involved meetings and fundraisers in San Francisco and Beverly Hills -- Rubio downplayed talk about being added to the Republican ticket in 2012 and possibly running for the White House in 2016 or down the road. He insisted that he was focused on his current responsibilities in the Senate.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
