Does yesterday's election pave the way for Rubio 2016?

Almost all news organizations say Hispanic turnout was key in President Obama's victory; especially in Florida, Colorado and Nevada. Is Rubio the inevitable nominee? I think the GOP will see the writing on the wall and start grooming him for leadership.

• It will be Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio against Hillary Clinton and Julian Castro.

  Pantsy

• If Paul Ryan can't even win in his home state, what would make him think he could win a run for President?

• I can't help thinking there has got to be some hidden reason as to why Rubio was not choosen as VP this year.

• Clinton/Castro against Rubio seems likely. But Ryan on the ticket? That depends on how stupid the Republicans are. In other words, it could happen.

• It takes a policy change. The Republicans have to change their actually rhetoric and policy on immigration if they want to inroads in that population. You can't talk about self-deportation and expect to have the hispanic community voting for you.

• Exactly, R5. Some commentator on MORNING JOE said as much. You can't just put Marco Rubio up there as a symbol of change and keep the same policies.

• I predict that some sort of scandal will upend Rubio's chances in the next 4 years. He's not the most ethical person in the world. He was caught lying about his grandparents, and he was caught spending campaign money on frivolous salon services on himself. I think he's another John Edwards in the making.

• Chuck Todd said this morning that immigration reform will pass overwhelmingly in the next 2 years. Republicans know that have to pass it if they want to attract Latino voters. Julian Castro has more appeal with Latinos because he's Mexican, which make up the vast majority of Latinos in this country. Cubans only make up a very small percentage and aren't popular with other Hispanics.

• Rubio is Cuban, which represents only 4% of the US Hispanic population. There is no great love for the Cubans among Mexicans, who represent 63% of the Hispanic population. Rubio is not the answer to the Republican's problem.

• r9 speaks the truth. Cubans are not well liked by Mexicans and Central Americans.

• Because Cubans are dicks to them. I'm not saying all Cubans are racist against Mexicans but all the ones I've ever known are. Even the ones I don't know that well will let fly how much they hate Mexicans. It's crazy.

• Phew! No Mexican candidates in the Rethugs back pockets...

  anon

• I doubt the Repubs care that Rubio is Cuban. To them, they're all the same.

• It will be interesting to see if Rubio runs against his mentor, Jeb Bush.

• I predict a Jeb Bush/Marco Rubio ticket.

• Having a Latino run for president will be viewed as a transparent ploy to lure in Latino voters. They would be better off using him for a VP.

• No, try Jeb instead, he is married to a Hispanic and wants immigration reform. Rubio is kind of cute but he is kind of stupid also.

• How does Jeb's policies really differ from the other Bushes? Anyone sincerely know anything about his character?

• It's Jeb Bush. He's popular and a friend of the Hispanics.

• Jesus Christ, by 2016 Jeb would have been out of office for 10 years and would not have run a campaign in 14 years. You really think someone like that would be more viable than a currently serving Senator or Governor? It would be like Bill Bradley running in 2008. Some of you know nothing about politics.

• No way Mexican-American Democrats in the Southwest and mountain west are voting for a Cuban-American Republican from Florida. . . Spanish surname or not. Once again, Republicans proving how out of touch they are with the Latino constituency.

• I wouldn't be surprised, however, if the GOP tries to push (Mexican-American) New Mexico governor, Susana Martinez, as a VP. Especially if it's a Hillary Clinton ticket in '16.

• R22, What am I chopped liver empanadas?

  Brian%20Sandoval%2C%20Gov%20NV

• Hillary will be too old. What about Martin O'Malley and Castro?

• Let me agree with the others who mention the deep mutual animosity between Mexican-Americans and Cubans. Only white people could assume that we would vote for a Cuban because he also happens to speak Spanish.

  Twentysomething%20Mexican-American

• Cubans look down their noses at other Hispanics and other Hispanics know it.

• I find it so ironic that just the other day, Jeb Bush finally came out and said Obama had to stop blaming his brother George for the country's economic mess. "Obama needs to take responsibility for his own presidency, blah, blah, blah." And then yesterday, the majority of the election day exit polls said that it's not just Obama, the majority of the country still blames George W. Bush. So suck it, Jeb.

• Some commentator pointed out how one-sided, shallow and "out of touch" the GOP is with regards to their proposals for capturing the Latino vote by just focusing on immigration - "if we throw them this bone, they'll like us, because clearly all Latinos are the same and just care about this one issue." The thinking surrounding a Rubio candidacy - "he's got a Hispanic-sounding surname, of course they'll vote for him; is there a real cultural difference between Cuban and Mexican?" - is equally as condescending and offensive. Sure, immigration may resonate with more Latinos because they may have friends or families or know of stories of people for whom immigration is an important issue. But the real reason the GOP got trounced so badly is that their entire platform just isn't as appealing - cutting taxes for the rich, reducing spending, smaller government? How many Latino voters give a shit? A certain percentage, sure, but a majority? Compare that to the Democratic platform (or at least what the platform aspires to be) - inclusiveness, education, equal opportunity, health care, personal debt - bread and butter concerns for working and middle class voters. THAT's why the Democrats get the Latino vote, not (only) because of immigration. Same reason why Obama gets so much of the black vote - it's not "oh, he's black, so of course they'll vote for him" (which is the GOP assumption); it's that the Democratic platform actually tries to appeal to them instead of treating them like forgotten relics of the past. And do they think voters have such a short memory that they'll forget all the rhetoric the GOP threw out only a few years ago? Sorry, if you treat voters like they're filthy dogs who stole their way into your country, and then turn around and "play nice" in order to buy their votes, a lot of them won't be fooled... it'll take more than a Hispanic surname.

• the gay rumors will destroy him.....what gay rumors...

  the%20ones%20we%20need%20to%20start

• Rubio is part of the religious whacko cartel, and not from the right place to connect with the Latino masses.

• Jeb Bush/cuomo? I don't think that Hillary will want the position. She (and Biden) are getting old.

• Agree with # 7 - Rubio is mad crazy ambitious, and a liar. He will pull something underhanded, and get caught. Business deal, an affair, or just get caught lying again for something that already that already happened. John Edwards redux. Watch

  Elian%20

• The people who are saying "Mexican Americans won't relate to a Cuban American" remind me of the people who were saying Black Americans wouldn't relate to Barack Obama because he was "too white."

• [R15] -- the constitution prohibits electors from voting for a prez and veep from the same state (Florida in this case). J o P

  Junquie%20of%20Politics

• It's not that Mexican Americans wouldn't relate to a Cuban American. It's that they won't go to Rubio. Most blacks don't like Clarence Thomas or Alan Keyes or Herman 999 Cain.

• I don't think that Jeb Bush and Rubio can be on the same ticket because they represent the same state. I do agree that the only one that could possibly get the GOP out of the mess they find themselves in is Jeb. Too bad his last name is Bush because he won't win with that last name.

• Jeb Bush has too much baggage, including a junkie daughter and his involvement with the Terri Schiavo fiasco. Hillary Clinton has probably had enough of the big time by now and is ready to take it easy, do some tai chi, teach a couple of law seminars. Marco Rubio is to Latino what Herman Cain is to African American. He doesn't stand a chance in hell of a serious presidential run. Is Al Franken ready to become the first Jewish-American president? Maybe!

• castro said today he isn't going to run for governor or texas. he cannot run for prez as a mayor, can he?

• Rand Paul is going to make a strong bid for the Republican nomination in 2016. I think it's between Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and Paul.

• Bush & Rubio can be on the same ticket, but they can't get Florida's electoral votes since they're from the same state. So that'll never happen. This stupid argument about Rubio reminds me of the Iraq war--"What? There are Sunnis and Shiites? What's the difference?". Republicans are so ignorant that they see no difference in Latinos, much as they couldn't see the difference amongst Iraqis. And the other Mexican Americans on this thread are trying to be polite--most Latino groups HATE Cubans. Part of it is their privileged immigration status, part of it is their particularly annoying Spanish accent, and I'm sure part of it is anti-Semitic feeling ("Jewbans"). I have a friend with an insane Puerto Rican father who wouldn't even allow black beans in the house because Cubans ate them. By all means--put him on the ticket.

  %28Mexican%20American%29%20New%20Haven%20guy

• If you have 2 people from the same state on the ticket, then you can't get that state's electoral votes? I never knew that.

• R40 is right. That;'s why Cheney switched residence from Texas to Wyoming.

• R39, There is an assumption that some Americans hold that an obese man could not be very healthy. Is that true of Christie? I would worry that he would die in office from all of the added stress. Also many would not vote for a man who was not "a good diplomat." We do not like to be embarrassed when our president "shoots off his mouth" and offends others, especially foreign heads of state. There are those who would not vote for MR, and chose Pres Obama, comparing the latter's quiet strength to that of esteemed actor Sidney Poitier.

• Rubio is already heading to Iowa next week to be the keynote speaker at a fundraiser for the current governor. How convenient...I'm sure he's already testing the waters. I would hate to live in Iowa - seems like presidential campaigns there never end. Only the names change.

  http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/08/rubio-to-headline-fundraiser-for-iowa-governor/

• As nuts as the GOP is these days, I'm thinking Bachmann/Rubio or Rubio/Bachmann. Really. They'll see it as showing they understand the whole "woman-Latino" thing.