At some point, the most obvious explanation is rope-a-dope.
Over the past three weeks, critics of Marco Rubio – his political rivals and some in the media – have worked themselves into something of a frenzy over Rubio’s use of a Republican party credit card nearly a decade ago. Without any new information, the story came to dominate coverage of Rubio’s presidential campaign, perhaps not coincidentally as he’s risen in the polls.
At the CBNC debate in late October, Rubio was asked about his “issues” with the credit card. Days later, an internal strategy document from Jeb Bush’s campaign, leaked to the media, suggested Rubio is a “risky bet” in part because of his alleged “misuse of state party credit cards” and “taxpayer funds.” A Tampa Bay Times headline blared that Rubio “spent lavishly” on the state party credit card. The Democratic National Committee released a statement asking, “What is Marco Rubio Hiding,” and Donald Trump used the occasion to call Rubio a “disaster” before castigating him for what he “did when he was running the party apparatus with credit cards.”
So, what’s the issue? Rubio used a Florida GOP credit card before and during his time as speaker of the Florida house and sometimes co-mingled personal and official political charges. The details of the story were first reported and addressed during Rubio’s run for the Senate in 2010. Rubio insisted then, as he does now, that he quickly paid off his personal charges. And he says that while the practices may have been unwise, given the questions he’s faced about them, he did nothing improper. No taxpayer money was involved. The Washington Post fact-checker recently examined the claims and counter-claims, concluding that Rubio’s explanation checked out and declaring, “a mountain’s been made of a molehill, by the media and Rubio’s opponents.”
While most of the new attention to the old issue comes because Rubio’s opponents are eager to make it a liability, the ostensible news peg was that Rubio had not yet disclosed the details of the first two years of his charges. Rubio’s opponents whispered to reporters that the missing statements from 2005 and 2006 might have been withheld because they contain damaging information.
It’s now clear that they do not. THE WEEKLY STANDARD reviewed copies of those statements over the weekend. And contrary to much of the speculation, Rubio’s spending in the first two years of his use of the Florida GOP credit card was lower than it had been during the final two years – the period that had been previously disclosed. Marc Caputo, veteran Florida reporter for Politico, who has reported on the credit card story for years, broke the story about the new disclosures in a story posted over the weekend.
On Saturday, Rubio released his 2005 and 2006 statements that showed he only spent $65,000 on party business. That’s far less than other Republican leaders who succeeded him in the Florida House. And it’s just about half of the $117,000 Rubio himself charged on his party credit card after he became Florida House speaker in 2007-08.
Caputo makes clear that Rubio’s record-keeping was sloppy, something Rubio has acknowledged. But absent a major new development, suggestions of a “scandal” emerging from Rubio’s “lavish” credit card practices appear greatly exaggerated and those making such hyperbolic claims, including GOP rivals and journalists, look foolish.
The Bush campaign, still hyping the credit card issue in conversation over the weekend, is left with little more than eroded credibility. In fact, among the most vigorous defenders of Rubio on credit cards have been Bush supporters.
A former Rubio staffer whose endorsement the Bush team was touting last week came to Rubio’s defense on the credit card matter. Richard Corcoran, a former chief of staff to Rubio who is backing Bush’s presidential bid, dismissed the complaints. Corcoran, who charged items to party cards himself, told the Washington Post: “These are decade-old credit card statements that have been audited extensively by independent outside auditors and found to be fine.”
Beyond that, Bush’s aides have suggested that the credit card, among other things, concerned Mitt Romney’s vice presidential vetting team. One slide from the Bush strategy document, part of a presentation to the campaign’s donors, claimed: “Those who have looked into Marco’s background in the past have been concerned with what they have found.” A “Bush aide” told U.S. News’ David Catanese, who obtained the presentation, that the line “refers to concerns Mitt Romney’s team unearthed when they vetted Rubio for vice president in 2012.”
But two of the leaders of Romney’s campaign have disputed this. Matt Rhoades, who managed Romney’s campaign, told Politico: “Our vetting team was confident that, if chosen, Sen. Rubio’s legislative record and high personal character would have been a great asset to Gov. Romney. To say otherwise is utterly dishonest.”
Beth Myers, who ran the vetting operation for Romney, said the vice presidential search team “found nothing that disqualified him from serving as VP” and said suggestions from Bush aides to the contrary are “wrong.” Myers has endorsed Bush.
Donald Trump’s tirade on Rubio generated significant media attention – as it was no doubt designed to do. But Trump got his facts wrong, as he does regularly. Rubio was not, contrary to Trump’s accusation, “running the party” during the time in question. And Trump ought to know better, since he supported the man who was the titular leader of the Florida Republicans at the time, Governor Charlie Crist, and who hand-picked the actual leader, Jim Greer. Trump hosted a fundraiser for Crist at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach on December 9, 2009.
And what about the media? Reports on CNN, ABC News, MSNBC and in newspapers around the country fly-specked Rubio’s spending and at times suggested hinted at impropriety.
MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki noted Rubio spending at an Apple store. “It was $765 for an Apple online store purchase for computer supplies – it was listed as,” he said. ABC News cited Rubio’s charges for “grocery store runs, Walt Disney World trips, flowers and flights for his wife.” CNN pointed to charges of “$53.49 at Winn-Dixie for food. $68.33 at Happy Wine in Miami for beverages and meals. And $78.10 for groceries at Farm Stores in Miami” and raised eyebrows at Rubio spending on meals at Ruth Chris Steakhouse and hiring “limousines.”
Rubio campaign officials tell TWS that reporters have been calling and emailing to demand details about Rubio’s dinner companions and conversations at inexpensive meals out ten years ago.
There seems to be a double-standard in the coverage. Many of the same kinds of Rubio expenditures highlighted by the media in recent days go unreported when the money is spent by Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
There’s a reason for that. Such spending is unremarkable – even routine. According to recent FEC reports, Hillary Clinton’s campaign spent thousands at wine stores ($461.56 at the Mills Wine Group, $1400.87 at Silverlake Wine), four times Rubio at the Apple Store ($2625.30 and $412.64 in separate charges) and also shopped at Winn-Dixie ($474.86, plus another $463.10 at Publix and $629.81 at Whole Foods).
The Clinton campaign has spent $14,591.53 at the Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton hotels and another $6,687.59 with limousine companies and other transportation services. There was also the $15,071.69 on an event at the 40/40 Club in New York City – owned by Jay Z.
Are Rubio’s charges – most of them made before Barack Obama was elected president – really more newsworthy than Hillary Clinton’s spending today? Some examination of Rubio’s credit card spending is appropriate. But it’s fair to wonder whether the intense scrutiny is driven more by facts and legitimate journalistic inquiry than by assumptions reporters (fed by campaign opponents) bring to the story.
Remember the New York Times exclusive on Rubio’s “luxury speedboat?” The paper reported that Rubio “splurged” on the “extravagant purchase” by spending $80,000 on a boat the paper described as opulent. In fact, it was a fishing boat common in south Florida.
And the investigation into Rubio’s speeding tickets? The Times reported that Rubio “has been a hurry to get to the top” but “politics is not the only area where Mr. Rubio…has an affinity for the fast track. He and his wife, Jeanette, have also shown a tendency to be in a rush on the road.” The bombshell: the Rubios received 17 tickets between 1997 and 2015 (four for Rubio, 13 for his wife). The Times story was accompanied by an interactive feature, “View the Rubios Traffic Infractions,” with copies of the citations.
It is possible there is something in Rubio’s background that will present real problems for his presidential bid. The Florida press has looked critically at Rubio’s history. We’ve done the same.
But unless an actual scandal surfaces, the rival campaigns and journalists attempting to weaken Rubio by hyping these pseudo-scandals are probably strengthening him.
