Marco Rubio has been pretty quiet since he won the election, and if you've spent much time listening to him speak, that's probably a good thing. However, now he has resurfaced. This time it appears he's trying to turn his "gift of gab" into prose. (I could say "stop laughing" but what's the point?)
From the St. Petersburg Times:
One of Marco Rubio's first national backers in his seemingly quixotic campaign against Charlie Crist was Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina. Now DeMint, a patriarchal figure in the tea party, has written a book about movement called The Great American Awakening: Two Years That Changed America, Washington and Me.
The forward is written by Rubio.
So I guess we can stop wondering about the current status of Rubio's "on again off again" relationship with the Tea Party. He's officially signed onto that sinking ship, so much so he's put it in writing. Sure, in a book that will be on the fast track to the $2.99 table at a bookstore near you in no time, but he's inked the deal nonetheless.
The Times speculates that a Rubio book is on the horizon, but then that only makes sense. Those who can govern do. Those who can't write a book. (See: Mike Haridopolos.)
Stop me if you've read this kind of nonsense before:
"I was supposed to lose Florida's 2010 Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, and I was supposed to lose big," Rubio wrote. "I will always be grateful to Senator DeMint ... When other people in our party cared more about popularity and power above all else, he insisted that Republicans stay true to their principles. Thanks to his willingness to take a chance on a new crop of committed conservatives, he won't be the only one in Washington standing up for the principles of freedom."
I'm picturing Sarah Palin's ghostwriter penning that one from her notes:
Rubio: "Freedom, American Exceptionalism, fiscal....something, yada, yada, yada,,,"
But wait, there's more....
In his book, DeMint writes about the Rubio-Crist battle, seeing the former governor as a "political opportunist" who committed the sin of endorsing President Obama's economic stimulus yet scooped up early support from Republicans in Washington.
That may be the one ounce of truth in this waste of a perfectly good tree, calling Charlie Crist a "political opportunist."
But then Jim DeMint and Marco Rubio would both know a political opportunist when they see one.
They wrote the book on it.