Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush threw several not-so-subtle rhetorical punches at Sen. Marco Rubio, R., Fla., on the stump in Iowa on Wednesday.
Rubio has come under fire for becoming the only senator to miss a vote to set spending policy for the Department of Defense and the military, and the senator has previously dismissed criticism of his absences, noting that his office still handles important constituent services. Bush raised the issue of missing votes without mentioning Rubio explicitly, and urged lawmakers to “show up and vote.”
“If you’re a United States senator, what have you done [in the last six years]?” Bush said. “There’s been no change in the culture.”
“We should have a system in Washington where they’re the servant, not the master.”
The governor talked about how he obtained the nickname “Veto Coreleone” for his willingness to use the line-item veto power in the Sunshine State, and said, “Veto Corleone needs to go to Washington, D.C., as well.”
Bush, who ranks sixth in the Washington Examiner‘s power rankings, embarked on his longest journey through the Hawkeye State thus far this week, and outlined his vision to reform the federal government. He described his vision for limited government, whereby “government shouldn’t grow faster than people’s ability to pay for it.”
He appeared to acknowledge that he is not where he wants to be in the polls and answered one Iowan’s question by saying, “If the election was held in the first week of October, I’d say ‘uh-oh.'” Bush ranks fifth in RealClearPolitics’ average of national polls, just behind Rubio. He said his strategy to climb back to the top of the polls involves telling his own story, in which he casts himself as the outsider.
“I’ve got to tell the Jeb story,” Bush said. “I’ve never lived in Washington … I just have the skills to disrupt the beast.”
