With two weeks left to the general election, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., intends to use his Reclaim America PAC and hit the stump for other Republicans -- and his path is taking him to the states which hold early contests to determine the next presidential nominee. Rubio has left the door open to running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
Im not up for re-election this year, but that doesnt mean Im sitting at home watching TV, Rubio emailed conservatives on Tuesday night. There is just too much at stake. With only 14 days to go, we must do everything we can to reclaim America from President Obama and Harry Reids liberal agenda. Im hitting the road hard over the next few weeks to help conservative candidates all over the country, from Florida to New Hampshire to South Carolina to Iowa.
In Iowa, which holds the first caucus, Rubio will campaign with Joni Ernst who is the Republican candidate looking to flip the seat held by retiring U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. In New Hampshire, home of the first presidential primary, Rubio is backing former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., who, after losing his seat in 2012, moved to the Granite State and is running against U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. South Carolina, where Rubio stumped on Wednesday, holds its presidential primary right after New Hampshire and Florida traditionally follows it.
Praising candidates like Scott Brown in New Hampshire, Tom Cotton in Arkansas, Joni Ernst in Iowa, and Cory Gardner in Colorado, Rubio called on Republicans to flip the Senate.
We wont win back the Senate and fire Harry Reid unless we win in these states," Rubio insisted. The polls couldnt be any closer.
The South Carolina Democratic Party fired away at Rubio on Wednesday while the senator campaigned in the Palmetto State, linking him to former U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., who now leads the conservative Heritage Foundation. Pointing to Rubios opposition to reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act and increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, as well as other issues, the South Carolina Democrats painted Rubio as a tea party follower of DeMint.
Rubio has definitely proven his tea party bona fides to people like Jim DeMint, but he's failed working families and the middle class, the South Carolina Democrats insisted on Wednesday. So with him in South Carolina raising money off his Heritage-approved record, we know whose priorities he puts first.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) thought enough of the South Carolina Democrats email that it forwarded it to the media.
Back home in Florida, Rubio is also hitting the campaign trail for Republicans. Last week, Rubio went to bat for Gov. Rick Scott and attacked old foe former Gov. Charlie Crist in the increasingly contentious gubernatorial race. On Monday, Rubio campaigned with Scott in South Florida. Tuesday found Rubio in Tallahassee helping out U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland who is facing a serious challenge from Democrat Gwen Graham. Also this week, Rubio recorded a robo-call for former state Rep. Carl Domino as he looks to upset U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., in November.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
