While he may have been the point man on the immigration reform bill, Marco Rubio is now saying he could vote against it -- an action that could come back to haunt him if, as is widely expected, he runs for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
The Republican senator of Florida appeared on the Hugh Hewitt radio show Tuesday, claiming the future of the bill is up in the air. One of the Gang of Eight in the Senate who helped give the immigration reform a bipartisan flavor, Rubio used his standing with conservatives and the national media attention he commands to champion the bill.
For those who want immigration reform, the task is very simple: Lets strengthen the border security parts of this bill so that theyre stronger, so that they dont give overwhelming discretion to the Department of Homeland Security, Rubio told Hewitt. I think if we can do that, then youre going to be able to get something done. But if you cant, then its not going to happen.
He added he would be supporting amendments to the immigration reform bill in order to tighten border security. In fact, he told Hewitt, the amendments would have to pass for him to support the bill.
I think if those amendments dont pass, then I think weve got a bill that isnt going to become law and I think were wasting our time, Rubio answered when Hewitt asked if he would vote for the bill without the amendments. So the answer is no. If they dont pass, then we have to keep working to ensure that we get to a bill that can become a law. Were not interested in passing a Senate bill. Were interested in passing a law that reforms a broken legal immigration system, that begins to enforce the law, and that deals with the 11 million people who are here illegally. And that is the goal of this endeavor.
"And so, if those amendments fail, weve got to go back to the drawing board and keep working until we can figure out one that will pass," Rubio continued. "But I dont understand why anyone would be against it. In essence, I dont think there is a good reason to be against strengthening border security for our country. The vast majority of [people] are prepared to support immigration reform the way weve laid it out, but only if we can pass an amendment that ensures that we will never have another wave of illegal immigration again. And that is where Im really going to focus my energies --on trying to get language into this bill that gets us that support.
While Rubios support for more comprehensive legislation could help win back conservatives who are upset with his role on immigration reform, the senator from Florida could be setting himself up for a campaign dilemma. Rubio has aggressively championed the immigration reform bill, hitting the national airwaves to advocate for it. Voting against the very creature he prominently supported will be an issue if he makes a presidential bid in 2016.
This kind of legislative positioning helps explain why so very few presidents have emerged from the U.S. Senate. Only Warren Harding, John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama made the leap straight from the Senate to the White House.
There are legislative landmines in the Senate that are hard to explain on the campaign trail. In 2004, for example, John Kerry was hurt by Senate procedure and legislative shifts as Republicans had a field day with his I was for it before I was against it line. The same could hold true for Rubio if he is not careful in how he maneuvers on immigration. If he votes against the bill he crafted and strongly championed, Rubio will have to find a message that explains his pivots, reassures conservatives and doesnt descend into legislative linguistics.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this analysis piece exclusively for Sunshine State News.
