Strolling out of the corn fields after the Iowa caucus isn’t Shoeless Joe Jackson, nor is it Kevin Kostner’s deceased father coming back for one more catch. It’s Marco Rubio, and he’s not here for Kevin Kostner. He’s here to win elections; and he’s got the juice to do it.
What people seem to forget is Rubio used to be the heir apparent. It wasn’t until he displayed his dehydration on national television after Barack Obama’s State of the Union that the party started to cool on him. In the intellectual cesspool of the 24 hour news cycle and sound bite politics, he was ridiculed and was seen as not quite ready for the bright lights of Washington presidential politics. It seemed his presidential campaign in 2016 was solely for building an infrastructure for future elections, for when Rubio would finally redeem himself in the eyes of the party.
While a third place finish in Iowa doesn’t seem to be something to blow the war horns about, it’s important to note he outperformed his RCP averages by an astonishing six points, almost overtaking Donald Trump. If the field was as limited as the Democratic field, it is a very tenable position to say he may have upset Cruz in a heavy Evangelical state, which won't be there in many other major states. This apparent strength in ground game and late support is leading the idea around the Republican party that they have found their man. Rubio now overtaken the dearly departed Jeb Bush in weighted endorsements according to fivethirtyeight. Not to mention Sheldon Adelson, arguably the most influential Republican donor, has expressed his interest in bankrolling the Rubio campaign which would not only make him see more appealing to other donors, but allow him to go up against any Republican candidate dollar for dollar in any state. This is major development when you have a candidates that are one bad showing in New Hampshire from dropping out (Christie, Kaisch) and candidates sitting on a massive, but limited, sum of cash (Bush). So while he has the foundation in place to make a run at the nomination, does he have the electability to take the whole thing? The truth is he is the Democrats' worst nightmare.
Since Marco declared his candidacy in 2015, the Hillary Clinton camp has been well aware how much of a problem this guy was going to be if he garnered the nomination. Steve Schale, Florida strategist for the Democratic leader of Florida’s House of Representatives, quoted his boss, Dan Gleber, that Rubio has the ability to make “Young women swoon, old women pass out, and toilets flush themselves.” He’ll also be able to make gains in the coveted Hispanic constituencies that the Democrats hang their hat on in their current road to the White House (especially in Florida). All of these numbers culminate into the fact that he fares better than any candidate against Sanders or Clinton in the early, but unreliable, general election polls. His only obstacle will be to overcome his “greenness” and lack of experience, which is something he will have to overcome anyway in the Republican primaries. Be that as it may, there is no candidate better positioned to take it all. If the Republicans are smart, they will seize on this opportunity and build upon a once in a lifetime opportunity.
After the red wave in the 2010 midterms, the Republicans were able to gerrymander districts to insure an almost insurmountable monopoly in the House of Representatives. Ironically, this lack of competition has led to a major division in the party almost creating a power vacuum that would have splintered the party in rival factions. Paul Ryan was able to bring them back from the abyss, but a Marco Rubio/Paul Ryan brand of young charismatic leadership paired with the current monopoly of power over the congress, assuming a Rubio victory, would turn a party in disarray a year ago to the party of untouchables
