Sen. Marco Rubio has once again emerged as a debate winner according to the consensus of many news outlets, pundits, and focus groups.
Rubio specifically stood out in the latest Republican presidential debate for addressing issues that most of the candidates haven’t so far: Higher education reform and student loans.
“Our higher education system is completely outdated” Rubio said. “It is too expensive, too hard to access, and it doesn’t teach 21st century skills. If we do what needs to be done — tax reform, regulatory reform, fully utilize our energy resources, repeal and replace Obamacare, and modernize higher education, then we can grasp the potential and the promise of this new economy.”
During the debate, many of the candidates agreed that raising the minimum wage would be damaging for job growth — however, Rubio rose a step above the rest by actually offering several alternatives, one of which was to make higher education faster and more accessible.
For the life of me, I don’t know why we have stigmatized vocational education,” he added. “Welders make more money than philosophers. We need more welders and less philosophers.”
While this was one of the most popular statements of the debate according to polling and focus groups, Rubio was later hit by fact-checkers on the claim that welders actually make more money than those who graduate with a degree in philosophy. However, his point was clear that more vocational training in the United States would lead to higher employment and a better economy.
Rubio also spoke up for the “young Americans who owe thousands of dollars in student loans for a degree that doesn’t lead to a job.”
Rubio’s comments about higher education reform and a strong national defense earned him a positive reaction from the College Republican National Committee’s focus group measuring millennial’s reaction in real-time during the debate.
A majority of participants in a Fox News focus group declared Rubio the debate winner, and several even said his performance caused them to shift support from other Republican presidential candidates including Ben Carson and Jeb Bush.
Rubio was also declared a winner in the third Republican debate last month which helped boost him to a solid third place in the polls.
