Marco Rubio: A Kite Without a String
Kites are physics lessons disguised as childlike
fun. Buried in our fascination with watching something take flight even though it’s not a bird, lies a simple lesson of how the universe works: If there’s enough wind, and the toy is light enough, the length of your string is the limit.
From that perspective, watching the latest senate race in the state of Florida was interesting for a while. As the campaign progressed, Marco Rubio rode the winds of Tea Party disenchantment to a convincing primary challenge against Charlie Crist’s constant yanking towards the middle. But when Crist concluded that he would never raise enough money from the fringe that hijacked his party, he pulled the cord. No one could be faulted with thinking that an ideological victory for Rubio would have been enough.
But when there is no string to pull it against the wind, it’s only a matter of time until the kite slowly falls from high above. With Crist launching his independent campaign, Rubio now understands that all the shouting in the world from the Tea Party faithful will not represent an edge in the ballot box without a scapegoat to yank him all the way to victory. Now the falling-kite candidate has had no recourse but to soften, if not altogether abandon, positions he has taken in the past in order to appeal to moderates.
Arizona’s SB 1070 would set up a police state? Well, not so fast, now says Rubio, believing the law is simply a wake up call for the federal government.
Going to show Pelosi and Reid who’s the boss? Well, he wants to be an alternative, now says Rubio, not wanting to be seen as an obstructionist.
Obama is the enemy? Well, he only disagrees in policy, now says Rubio, lest he be seen as not rational enough to recognize the quintessential American success story.
Maybe you don’t think Marco Rubio is a flip-flopper. After all, the case could be made that he simply “flipped” by elaborating on his earlier positions, and that as long as the Godfather of Florida politics, Jeb Bush, continues considering him viable, Rubio might still have a chance.
But in politics, just as in physics, the rules always apply. Without a string – or a scapegoat – it’s only a matter of time until a kite flops.
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