Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's decision to play a high profile role in the Senate's immigration reform proposal two years ago will be an issue that could haunt him as he campaigns for the conservative vote in his presidential campaign,
Politico reported.
At the same time, the issue might not be a deal-breaker with GOP voters, particularly because he has since distanced himself from the reform proposals after they failed to gain traction in Congress.
"I think that Sen. Rubio has done something that most politicians don't do: he evaluated what went wrong … [and] is working to make sure he doesn't make the same mistakes again. I think that neutralizes his mistakes," Jenny Beth Martin, president and co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, told Politico.
Nevertheless, the issue will likely be raised by his opponents and voters as he hits the campaign trail. Rubio plans to tell voters that the comprehensive bill he co-authored simply doesn't have a chance to get through Congress.
"What I think everyone over here underestimated is how difficult it is to pass massive pieces of legislation on any subject — not just immigration — given the rightful distrust the people have about the federal government," Rubio said in a recent interview in the Capitol, according to Politico.
And he admits in his book
"American Dreams" that the approach he took with the legislation in terms of trying to pass one large bill was "simply not realistic."
Rubio is now taking up the argument that immigration reform should be tackled in pieces, focusing first on border security. His shift in position may have placated concerns on the right that he is out of step with their position on the issue.
But critics have said that the way he handled the immigration issue shows that he lacks any significant legislative accomplishments during his short time in the Senate, and separate to the tea party base, he has also disappointed immigration activists.
"Every time he gets on his knees and begs for forgiveness from the nativist right in the GOP, I cringe," Frank Sharry, a veteran immigration advocate who leads America's Voice, a left-leaning, pro-reform group, told Politico.
"He will always be known as the guy who stood up for something he seemed to believe in and backed down when it was politically convenient to do so."
At the launch of his campaign Monday night at the Freedom Tower in Miami, immigration activists were out in force protesting his lack of support for comprehensive reform,
Miami New Times reported.
Other pundits say he has managed to neutralize the issue.
"I'm struck by how much he has recovered," Weekly Standard editor William Kristol said, according to Politico.
"It's hard to put your finger on it, but there do seem to be some politicians whom lots of voters want to like and are eager to forgive for their mistakes," Kristol said. "So Rubio's apparent comeback over the last couple of years may indicate a kind of underlying strength there that one might not have expected."
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