U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a likely prospect for the 2016 presidential contest, was in Atlanta on Tuesday.
The visit was essentially a private one, but he gave us a shout before noon to explain. He's got a political action committee – doesn't everyone these days? – called Reclaim America, which is dedicated to establishing a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate.
“We’ve already spent about $500,000 on TV ads in Arkansas and Iowa, and we want to extend to at least another state or two,” Rubio said.
The question is whether David Perdue’s Republican bid for the U.S. Senate is an appropriate place to spend the cash.
“One of the things we’re doing is getting an assessment of how that’s going here – considering whether the PAC becomes involved in a state like this,” Rubio said. “We feel positive about the direction of the race, and we feel they have a very good candidate.”
Rubio wouldn’t say so, but it’s likely that he’s looking for the place where his help would mean the most to a new member of the Senate. So not playing in Georgia wouldn’t be a vote of no-confidence, but an acknowledgment that Perdue has the situation under control. IOUs are very valuable up Washington way.
Rubio is currently in the process of rebuilding his 2016 prospects after a Senate immigration reform initiative, which he backed, crashed and burned last year.
He has emerged as a harsh critic of the Obama administration and its reaction to the collapse of Iraq and the rise of the Islamic State in the Levant, a jihadist attempt to establish a caliphate in what is now both Iraq and Syria.
Rubio is calling for an expansion of U.S. airstrikes into Syria:
"It's pretty simple. I believe ISIL is a direct threat to the United States. A direct threat to our national security. There are thousands of European passport holders among their ranks, potentially hundreds of Americans among their ranks…
"I believe ISIL, left on their current path, will expand operations not just into Iraq, but will consolidate their gains and make a move on Jordan and on Lebanon, and potentially Turkey as well. And eventually move against Israel at some point in the future.
"They intend to drive us out of the region by terrorizing us here at home. So what I called for weeks ago – and it appears to be what the president is considering now – and that is sustained air assaults against transport lines, their supply chains, their command-and-control centers. That includes expanding it to their sites in Syria – where they are headquartered, where they now control an entire province."
The Florida senator had some sharp comments for Hillary Clinton, a potential 2016 rival who has been putting air between herself and President Obama’s foreign policy. You’ll also notice a slap at fellow Republican Rand Paul below:
"As I specifically warned during the debates, including against members of my own party, on what to do in Syria – I specifically warned that unless we identified, trained, equipped and capacitated moderate rebels in Syria, the vacuum that was being left behind by this rebellion was going to be filled by jihadists.
"[Clinton] was there at this administration as this was going on….That happened on her watch, while she was the secretary of state. So she can go back now and say whatever she wants – but she was there, and didn't voice any concern about it publicly at the time."
One last topic. On Monday, Rubio was in Anderson, S.C., at a Faith and Freedom barbecue, where he was heckled by a group of young people who identified themselves as “dream” kids – brought here by illegal immigrant parents who are not trying to achieve permanent legal status here.
They derided what they called his abandonment of the immigration issue.
Of the incident, Rubio said:
"That being said, I am sympathetic to their cause. And I think as much as anyone in the Republican party, I've tried to do more than anyone else to address it. But the way they're asking us to address it is completely unrealistic….
"If we can address illegal immigration, I think the American people are willing to be extremely generous and reasonable about their plight."
You might remember last week's column about another Marco, a bright, 16-year-old student at DeKalb Early College Academy, a "dream" kid, who was now being required to pay nearly $5,000 every 16 weeks for an early start at college.
We asked Rubio if Marco and other dream kids like him had anything to fear from a Republican-controlled U.S. Senate and House, which is entirely possible in November. The Marco from Florida said no, and elaborated:
"Of all the group, I think they're the ones that generate the most sympathy among the American public. And the American public will be willing to do something about it – I believe that. But not until illegal immigration is under control. I've learned that the hard way in the last year and a half."
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