Democrats beware: Marco Rubio is a Republican candidate who could break up the Democratic Party’s demographic advantage, at least according to one prominent Democrat.
That is the warning issued Sunday morning by Brian Schweitzer, the former Democratic governor of Montana.
“Democrats win on demographics. And part of that demographic is Latinos,” Shweitzer said on CNN’s State of the Union.
“And a guy like Marco Rubio, who is a new generation, a younger guy, a guy who is Latino, speaks Spanish fluently, he would create problems for some parts of the Democratic Party,” Schweitzer said.
Rubio, 44 years old, has sought to make his youth part of his appeal as he seeks the Republican nomination for president in 2016.
The Florida senator, whose parents immigrated from Cuba, currently trails other Republicans, such as businessman Donald Trump and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, in primary polling.
“Does he get through the primary? I don’t know,” Schweitzer acknowledged. “But he’s the new generation of Republicans, as opposed to the old generation.”
Schweitzer, who has a reputation as a populist Democrat who can appeal to middle-class white voters, was himself thought of as a possible presidential contender last year. One key question for Democrats in 2016 is whether the front-runner, Hillary Clinton, will be able to maintain the Obama coalition, which involved heavy turnout from minority voters.
The moment passed quickly, however, after a series of ill-considered public comments in the media.
Schweitzer left office in 2013 after serving two terms. Before that, he served in the U.S. Senate.
