Rubio Won't Be Romney's VP Pick

Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio has been in the headlines the last couple of days. It started when one of the news organizations reported that the Romney campaign wasn't even seriously vetting Rubio, meaning that he was not on Romney's "short list" of possible vice-presidential choices. Willard Mitt Romney (aka Wall Street Willie) quickly came out and said they were indeed vetting Rubio.

I have to wonder just why Romney did that. If he was really seriously considering Rubio to be his vice-president, why say anything at all? Isn't the "short list" supposed to be secret? And if he was considering Rubio, doesn't it just help to keep it secret for the media to say he's not being considered? Personally, I think Romney's defense of Rubio being a consideration is nothing more than cover for the people that he's really considering.

I believe there are several reasons why Rubio won't be chosen to run with Romney on the Republican ticket. Here are some of them:

* Rubio is not afraid to tell a lie to embellish his own status. Knowing that the Cuban community (and many other Americans) hate Fidel Castro and revere many of those who left Cuba after Castro came to power, Rubio tried to pass his own parents off as fleeing Cuba to escape Castro. The problem is that his parents came to the United States in 1956, and Castro didn't come to power until 1959 (three years later). His parents didn't emigrate for political reasons, but for economic reasons (much like those who immigrated from Mexico and other Latin American countries). Romney has enough problems with telling the truth, and he doesn't need a VP candidate with the same problem.

* Rubio wouldn't help Romney much among Hispanic voters. Romney probably already has the vote of the Cuban community, but they don't make up near a majority of Hispanics in the United States. A Fox News poll (which could be expected to favor Republicans) this year showed that only 14% of Hispanics supported Romney. Picking Rubio as his veep would only push that up to nearly 25%. That's still not even close to the 31% of the Hispanic vote that John McCain got in 2008.

* Rubio is quoted in his new book as saying, "If my kids went to sleep hungry every night and my country didn't give me an opportunity to feed them, there isn't a law, no matter how restrictive, that would prevent me from coming here." That's not going to go over very well with the Republicans base of teabagger voters, who have a hatred of those economic immigrants coming to America from south of the border. Romney already has a problem with this group (many of whom don't trust him and are threatening to stay home on election day), and he doesn't need a running mate that adds to that problem.

* Rubio has a history of financial problems. He not only ran up a personal debt of about a million dollars, but he charged over $100,000 worth of his own personal expenses to a credit card belonging to the Florida Republican Party. Even though he has now repaid the party for those charges (after being discovered), it brings up an ethical question of why he did it in the first place. Will voters want this man only a heartbeat away from directing the American economy?

If winning Florida was the only problem Romney had, maybe Rubio would be a good choice (since he is still popular in that state). But that's not Romney's only problem. He still needs to solidify his base, appeal to Independents, and win over some swing states. Rubio wouldn't help him with any of that.