Is Marco Rubio's 'Main Interest' Foreign Policy?

Daniel Larison over at the American Conservative fired away at Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio from the right on foreign policy:

Rubio espouses a view that is almost a caricature of hawkish interventionist foreign policy based on the faulty assumption that if the U.S. did something during the Cold War and if Reagan supposedly did it, it is the sort of thing that the U.S. should be doing now in an entirely different world. Its as if Rubios thinking on this issue remains frozen in the mid-1980s. That might not be so important if Rubio were mostly interested in entitlement reform or tax policy or any number of other issues, but foreign policy issues are supposed to be his main interest, and there is scant evidence from this interview or elsewhere that Rubio has very much to say about them.

While Rubio certainly talks a good deal about Americas role abroad and about American exceptionalism, I would be hard-pressed to define foreign policy as his main concern. Having covered him for more than a year now, my take is that Rubios chief focus is on tackling federal spending, the deficit and the national debt.

One of the reasons that Rubio did not focus on international issues during the 2010 campaign is simple: There were very few differences between Rubio and chief rival Charlie Crist on foreign policy during the election. While Rubio made some national waves -- and won the cheers of the neocons over at the Weekly Standard -- when he spoke in favor of regime change in Libya, most of the releases his team sends out have been on fiscal and budgetary issues. I suspect that is where Rubio's focus is, even though he serves on the Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees. That can change, of course; more than a few U.S. senators feel an increased need to play on the international stage the longer they serve. But for now, Rubio seems more focused on fiscal matters.