In the early stages of the 2016 presidential race, Marco Rubio has needed to get out of Jeb Bushs shadow. At CPAC on Friday, he did just that.
Wading into Common Core, Rubio insisted America doesnt need a national school board, even though no Republican has championed those standards more than his old ally Bush.
Its an interesting line of attack from Rubio, especially in light of his thoughts on the Clintons. Asked by FOX-TV's Sean Hannity what he thought of Hillary Clinton, Rubio dismissed her as yesterday. Bill Clinton was really yesterday. One can only imagine his take on George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush -- and by extension to the third member of that family dreaming of the White House.
Bush has eclipsed Rubio so far in the 2016 contest. The former Florida governor is better known across the nation and has more support than Rubio does in the Sunshine State. He is able to round up more from Florida Republican donors than Rubio can. Everywhere he goes, Rubio is confronted with questions about how his candidacy can survive with Bush in the race.
Heading into the primaries, Bush has three major weaknesses, one of which he shares with Rubio: immigration. But Bush is also hobbled with conservative primary voters over his ties to Common Core and his last name -- whether that will extend for long remains to be seen, because no Republican presidential ticket has won without a Bush on it since 1972.
Bush will certainly feel the heat from candidates on his right like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. But, more than any of the other major candidates, Rubio has the most to gain by going after Bush. Some of Pauls supporters will never like Rubios take on foreign policy and some on the right will never forgive his role with the Gang of Eight on immigration.
But plenty of conservatives will find Rubio less objectionable than some of the other candidates in the field, especially Bush and Chris Christie. Rubios take on Common Core and his dismissal of the Clintons -- and by extension the Bushes -- as products of the past can only help his chances with conservative primary voters.
As Rubio looks increasingly like a candidate who will run in 2016, he needs badly to get some daylight between himself and Bush. At the very least, Rubios comments at CPAC were a good start in that direction.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this analysis exclusively for Sunshine State News.
