Marco Rubio: Mitt Romney’s 2012 candidacy wasn’t flawed

But Sen. Marco Rubio isn’t one of them.

Rubio, who is weighing a presidential bid himself, said Wednesday, “I don’t necessarily think there were flaws in that candidacy.”

“I think oftentimes, we forget that in these campaigns, 90 percent of the outcome is determined by the blocking and tackling of politics,” Rubio said. “And I think the Obama campaign was a superior campaign operation.”

Romney has quickly and unexpectedly begun to seriously consider mounting a third campaign for president, with his allies making the case that he could overcome the missteps that ultimately defined his most recent bid, including his “47 percent” remark.

But Rubio, at least, said he does not think that and other instances like it “were the determining factors at the end of the day.”

“It’s certainly not helpful to be viewed as someone who doesn’t care about or understand people like you,” Rubio said. But he added, “That’s not true of Mitt Romney, because I know the person, I’ve met the man. Not only do I think he cares about people, I know he does.”

Were Romney to run for president again, his campaign would likely center on foreign policy, poverty and populist economic themes, based on statements he and his allies have made. Some Republicans worry that on poverty in particular, Romney, who became known in 2012 as a wealthy businessman, would be a flawed messenger.

At 67, Romney would also be one of the older Republican candidates for president, which could detract from the Republican line of attack against Hillary Clinton that she isn’t a fresh face.

But Rubio, who at 43 would be among the youngest candidates, said Wednesday that he thinks age matters less than the freshness of a candidate’s ideas.

“It doesn’t matter when you were born,” Rubio said. “You can be older and have modern ideas.”

Rubio was speaking to reporters at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.