Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's announcement Monday of his intention to seek the presidency showcased an impressive candidate with solid ideas to lead America into the 21st century, political adviser Pat Buchanan said Tuesday on
Newsmax TV's "America's Forum."
"His rollout was just excellent," Buchanan said of Rubio's performance. "He was in contrast with
Hillary Clinton's on Sunday, which didn't succeed.
"He reminds me a bit and seems to be almost channeling John F. Kennedy — a new generation of Americans, it's time for this World War II generation to take over from the older generation of Dwight Eisenhower — and talking about the new ideas and they are yesterday and we are tomorrow. He becomes a second-tier candidate in the Republican run."
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Standing in front of
Miami's Freedom Tower on Monday, Rubio, a 43-year-old son of Cuban immigrants, told a cheering crowd that "we must change the decisions we are making by changing the people who are making them. This election is not just about what laws we will pass. It is a generational choice about what kind of country we will be."
While Rubio is playing the youth card, something that may resonate with a large swath of voters, Buchanan said he also runs the risk of that message coming back to bite him.
"In terms of appearance, there is something about (Rubio) that doesn't say president," said Buchanan, author of
"The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose from Defeat to Create the New Majority."
Buchanan also weighed in on what's perceived by many as a culture war being waged against Christian conservatives by President Barack Obama.
"The president of the United States doesn't have to run again and he feels very much liberated, and he's going to say what he believes and he's going to do what he wants in foreign policy," said Buchanan.
"Abortion used to be a crime, it's now a constitutional right. Homosexual relations were outlawed in every state, now they're a constitutional right. Same-sex marriage is overwhelmingly approved of by young people in this country.
"Now, pornography is rampant on the Internet," he said. "We've seen the de-Christianization of America and the redefining of Christianity to mean something it didn't mean in the 1950s, and there's no doubt that Barack Obama is the avatar politically of this change."
Obama, he added, "is the exemplar of what's taking place in the culture."
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