Sen. Marco Rubio, the popular Florida Republican Hispanic who continues to say he doesn’t want to be president, has picked up support from another Floridian on Mitt Romney’s vice presidential list: Jeb Bush.
The former Florida governor called the first-term Rubio “probably the best” pick in an interview with Newsmax.
Key Washington Republicans, however, have been reconsidering their effort to push Rubio on Romney, asking if it might be too early for him to move into the vice presidency. Several conservatives Secrets interviewed have suggested instead that Rubio spend more time in the Senate to prepare for his own run for the presidency in the future.
And Sen. Rob Portman, the former Bush budget chief, continues to get backing from key Republican insiders who view him as vetted, “bullet proof,” and able to win Ohio for Romney.
In the Newsmax interview, Bush said he does not expect to get the call from Romney and he urged Rubio to drop his opposition to the job.
“Well I can’t speak for Gov. Romney, and I can’t speak for Sen. Rubio, but if I was on both sides of that conversation I would ask — and I would hope that Marco would accept,” Bush said. “There’s a lot of things in between that may not make that happen, but I am a great admirer of Mitt Romney’s and I’m a huge fan of Marco Rubio’s, and I think the combination would be extraordinary.”
Bush provided Newsmax with his own veep short list: Rubio, Portman, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels.
