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Marco Rubio takes center stage -- as the attacks and scrutiny increase
When the Republican presidential race first
started (and before Donald Trump and later Ben Carson took off), there
were three co-frontrunners -- Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Scott Walker.
Well, Walker dropped out of the contest in September. Bush now finds his
campaign on the ropes.
And that now leaves us with Rubio, who campaigns today in Iowa and who
very well might be your sole "establishment" frontrunner in the 2016
race. But, of course, with that new spotlight and designation come more
scrutiny and attacks. US News
got its hands on a 112-page report from the Bush campaign that's
largely an oppo dump on Rubio. One slide is entitled "Marco Is A Risky
Bet," and "it bullet-points Rubio's 'misuse of state party credit cards,
taxpayer funds and ties to scandal-tarred former Congressman David
Rivera.'… Another bullet point says Rubio's 'closeness with Norman
Braman, who doubles as personal benefactor[,] raises major ethical
questions.'… The most cryptic slight is left for last: 'Those who have
looked into Marco's background in the past have been concerned with what
they have found.'" Yet Beth Myers, who led Mitt Romney's VP vetting
process, emailed Politico
that Rubio "passed" the campaign's vetting (but Rubio ultimately wasn't
a top finalist to be Romney's VP pick). Our take: With this report to
U.S. News, is the Bush campaign doing ANOTHER favor for Rubio -- by
telegraphing the attacks coming his way? After all, we saw how that
played out in Wednesday's debate.
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