When Marco Rubio returned to the Senate in March, fatigued from losing a battle against the most overwhelming presidential candidacy of modern times, he pledged to do some honest days’ work—and then quietly step aside.
If he follows through on that pledge, he’ll have done it louder than advertised.
The one-term senator confirmed mounting speculation Wednesday that he would rethink his decision not to pursue reelection, telling reporters in the Capitol to watch for “a change in status” in the coming days.
“Obviously, I take very seriously everything that’s going on—not just Orlando, but in our country. I enjoy my service here a lot. So I’ll go home later this week, and I’ll have some time with my family, and then if there’s been a change in status I’ll be sure to let everyone know,” he said.
That comment marks a stark shift from when he exited the presidential campaign three months ago. Upon returning to the upper chamber, he said was going to “work really hard” on some priorities before the conclusion of his term—”And then I’ll be a private citizen in January,” he said.
No reelection bid for his vacant Senate seat. No run for Florida’s governorship. No vice-presidential nomination.
He’s maintained a public posture away from politics ever since, telling THE WEEKLY STANDARD’s John McCormack last week to “write a story on Zika” instead of his opinion of Donald Trump. But with Rubio’s reemergence as a vocal GOP presence in the media and issues beyond his control affecting his home state, talk of his place in the political world is now unavoidable. And if he jumps into the race for Florida’s Senate seat before a filing deadline next week—as he has vowed repeatedly not to do—it won’t be for a lack of groundwork.
In April, Rubio broke ranks with party leaders to support a White House funding request for addressing the Zika virus, which had afflicted Florida with more cases than any other U.S. state. The $1.9 billion ask was more urgent and costly than most GOP officials were willing to grant, opting instead to press Democrats and the administration on reallocating unused millions for combating Ebola to fight the developing medical threat. Rubio backed that idea, a $500 million transfer of funds, but went $1.4 billion further.
“Beyond that, we want to make sure that if there’s any additional funding that’s needed immediately to immediately address this, that perhaps that could be done in an expedited process,” Rubio said at a press conference. “Going beyond that, you know, through the normal process of how the Senate spends money and the House does it and Congress, I want to ensure that I work with my fellow Republicans in both the House and Senate to ensure that we’re doing everything we can to get my colleagues to be supportive of it.”
Not long after, Rubio began to make peace with the new Republican establishment, saying he had “always” pledged to support the GOP nominee for president, even Trump, “and that’s especially true now that it’s apparent that Hillary Clinton is going to be the Democratic candidate.” He reiterated that point in the first half of May while declining to withdraw his doubt of the “dangerous” Trump’s ability to handle the nuclear launch codes. He fully reestablished himself as a team player a couple of weeks later, when he said he wanted to be “helpful” to the Republican cause. He said “yeah” when asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper if he’d be willing to speak at the party’s July convention.
Perhaps sensing Rubio’s return from the political sidelines, Tapper observed, “So you’re willing to go to Cleveland, you’re willing to speak if appropriate, you want to do whatever you can to defeat Hillary Clinton, and you like public service. Is the door still closed to being Donald Trump’s vice president?”
Rubio answered that one in the affirmative. But as others have asked Rubio if the door is still closed to returning to the Senate, the Sunshine State Republican has steadily backed off his earlier declarations that congressional retirement was his next step. That’s particularly true now that Florida has become the center of attention for domestic terrorism.
The Orlando nightclub attack that killed 49 people last weekend gave Rubio “pause to think a little bit about your service to your country, and where you can be most useful to your country,” he told radio host Hugh Hewitt.
Hewitt instructed Rubio to think hard, since national security is one of the hawkish senator’s top policy credentials. “Very few people know this issue as you do, and I hope your service extends,” Hewitt said. Rubio is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees.
Some of the GOP candidates vying to replace him have sensed the moment. Congressman David Jolly said he would drop out of the race were Rubio to enter it. And most notably, Rubio’s friend and Florida lieutenant governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera disclosed Wednesday that he advised Rubio to revisit his plans given recent events.
“You should reconsider running for your seat,” Lopez-Cantera told Rubio in Orlando last weekend, he recounted to Politico.
Rubio indicated to reporters in the Capitol Wednesday that he is. If he follows through, the man who promised “A New American Century” will need a new campaign slogan.
Perhaps “Never Say Never” would work.
