Basic bio info
Marco Rubio was born May 28, 1971, in Miami to parents who immigrated to the United States from Cuba in 1956. As he noted in the first GOP debate: “My father was a bartender. And the journey from the back of that bar to this stage tonight, to me, that is the essence of the American dream.”
He earned his law degree from the University of Miami. In 2000, he won election to the Florida House of Representatives, and after he was re-elected a second time he became speaker of the Florida House. In 2010, he was elected to the U.S. Senate from Florida.
He and his wife have four children.
His stand (entering the race)
The U.S. senator entered the presidential race Monday, April 13, by offering the nation a younger generation of leadership that breaks free of ideas “stuck in the 20th century, ” a jab at both Democratic favorite Hillary Rodham Clinton and his one-time Republican mentor, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
At he public kickoff at Freedom Tower, the Miami landmark that was the first stop for tens of thousands of fleeing Cuban exiles during the 1960s and 1970s, Rubio stood in front of a banner that proclaimed “A New American Century.” The 43-year-old Cuban-American repeated that refrain throughout his kickoff speech, using his first turn as a Republican presidential candidate to take on two of America’s political dynasties. In doing so, he bet heavily on the electorate’s frustrations with Washington and his ability to change how his party is seen by voters.
“This election is not just about what laws we are going to pass, ” Rubio told his evening rally. “It is a generational choice about what kind of country we will be.”
He said it’s also a choice between the haves and have-nots, nodding to his own upbringing by working-class parents.
“I live in an exceptional country where the son of a bartender and a maid can have the same dreams and the same future as those who come from power and privilege, ” he said.
Earlier in the day, the first-term Republican from Florida spoke to his top donors and told them many families feel the American Dream is slipping away and young Americans face unequal opportunities. He’s banking on the hope that he, alone among many GOP rivals, can make inroads with groups that have long eluded Republicans — young people, minorities and the less affluent.
“I feel uniquely qualified to not just make that argument, but to outline the policies that we need to have in order to achieve it, ” he said on the donor call.
In his televised speech, he told supporters, “The time has come for our generation to lead the way toward a new American century.”
Rubio saw an opportunity to cast the presidential contest as one between a fresh face representing a new generation of leadership and familiar faces harking back decades — namely, the 62-year-old Bush and the 67-year-old Clinton.
“While our people and economy are pushing the boundaries of the 21st century, too many of our leaders and their ideas are stuck in the 20th century, ” Rubio said to applause.
The swipe at Bush was implied; with Clinton (who entered the Democratic race with a video the day before his announcement), he was more direct.
“Just yesterday, a leader from yesterday began a campaign for president by promising to take us back to yesterday, ” Rubio said to jeers. “Yesterday is over and we are never going back.”
Supporter Kelly Steele, 50, said at his kickoff event: “Sen. Rubio kind of reminds me of JFK. He’s got that energy and desire and momentum and excitement.”
To counter views of him as a neophyte, Rubio has outlined specific policy proposals both on foreign and domestic issues.
Rubio became the third major GOP contender to declare himself a candidate, after Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, in a field that would grow to nearly 20.
His support
The party with the supposed “Hispanic problem” has two rising young Hispanic stars in the presidential race. And, if nothing else, the Rubio and Cruz candidacies highlight the Democrats’ “Hispanic problem” - they have no Hispanic candidates playing at that level.
Rubio’s parents left Cuba in 1956, shortly before Fidel Castro took power. The personal narrative of his family’s immigrant past and his own success story have been seen as key parts of his campaign.
He also is known for his hawkish foreign policy views and experience on two powerful national security-focused Senate committees as he tries to sell his qualifications to be commander in chief. In a Florida campaign stop, he said, “The world still needs a strong America,” he said. “There is nothing to replace us.”
The Generation X candidate tells voters that the country won’t change direction “if all we do is keep electing the same kind of people.”
On higher education, Rubio said the nation’s traditional colleges and universities need to be “modernized” to help students compete in a global economy. He said schools should be required to tell students how much they can expect to spend on a degree and be told of their job prospects with that degree. He can relate with taxpayers about the cost of education — it was only three years ago that he finished paying off his student loan debt.
His critics
His work on immigration — one of his biggest achievements in the Senate — illustrates the delicate balance Rubio will have to strike to make it through his party’s nominating process. In 2013, he was part of a bipartisan group of senators that drafted a broad immigration bill that included a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million unauthorized immigrants already in the country.
He has since distanced himself from the proposal, saying he believes any immigration overhaul must start with securing the nation’s southern border and proceed step by step. But his original legislation enraged the right, which saw it as amnesty, while many liberals and immigration groups thought he had not gone far enough and were frustrated with his position.
While his fresh views aim to attract a new generation of voters, that’s also has been a point from critics. Fellow Republican president candidate Jeb Bush, who was governor of Florida while Rubio was a legislator, was viewed as Rubio’s mentor. However, Bush has drawn comparisons between Rubio’s lack of experience and President Barack Obama’s similar status when he ran for president. Many Republicans have said Obama’s similar political inexperience has been a factor in what they view as a bungled presidency.
