Rubio Must Have Terrible Advisors

The Sun Sentinel, one of Florida's largest newspapers, has asked Marco Rubio to resign his Senate seat:

After five years in the U.S. Senate, Marco Rubio does not like his job. A long-time friend told The Washington Post "he hates it." Rubio says hate might be too strong a word, but he sure acts like he hates his job.

Rubio has missed more votes than any other senator this year. His seat is regularly empty for floor votes, committee meetings and intelligence briefings. He says he's MIA from his J-O-B because he finds it frustrating and wants to be president, instead. "I'm not missing votes because I'm on vacation," he told CNN on Sunday. "I'm running for president so that the votes they take in the Senate are actually meaningful again."

Sorry, senator, but Floridians sent you to Washington to do a job. We've got serious problems with clogged highways, eroding beaches, flat Social Security checks and people who want to shut down the government.  If you hate your job, senator, follow the honorable lead of House Speaker John Boehner and resign it.

If there has been a bigger unforced error in presidential politics, I don't know what it would be. All Rubio had to do was show up for work a few more times and there wouldn't have been a problem to begin with.  Presidential candidates who are also in Congress often miss votes.  But Rubio missed so many votes, briefings, and hearings that Donald Trump went after him for it, which caused Rubio to respond by saying he's quitting the Senate anyway so no big deal. 

Well, it is a big deal because I just don't see either Trump or Carson winning the nomination. I understand that Republicans are mad at the GOP Establishment right now and probably like to express this anger by supporting lunatic outsiders, but their hatred for Hillary Clinton will eventually overwhelm them to such an extent that they'll feel compelled to support a candidate with the best chance of beating her.

Now I'm not saying that Rubio would have been that candidate, but he was certainly on the short list.  Jeb!'s candidacy seems to be fading fast.  Scott Walker and Rick Perry are out.  Lindsey Graham and Chris Christie's campaigns were dead on arrival. That leaves Rubio and Kasich as the only two people left in the field who have a chance of beating Hillary.  But it seems that if Rubio really wanted to be president, then he wouldn't have gone out of his way to brand himself as a quitter. 

So unless Jeb! can find a way to energize his floundering campaign, then Kasich just might end up being the Republican nominee. And that would be fine with me.