The Lies of Marco Rubio

So the pundits are hailing Rubio's win. I always get kind of frustrated with the Very Serious Pundits as so often they pronounce less what happened or even what seems to have plausibly happened but rather what they think should have happened.

They have been pushing a Rubio surges story for a month now and so far it's born little resemblance to reality.

http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-rubio-surge-exists-nowhere-except.html?showComment=1444516751669#c1370654832864847725

It's easy to understand where this narrative comes from. They are presuming the theory of most political scientists-The Party Decides theory of primary campaigns.

I don't dispute that this theory normally does pretty well in predicting and analyzing primaries but I have been impatient with the the blanket refusal of these serious pundits to consider that maybe it really is different this time.

Sometimes it really is different. The GOP seems to be in a level of truly unprecedented dysfunction this election cycle between their House leadership struggles and all these wildeyed Presidential candidates. Deep bench indeed.

Nate Silver I'm happy to report has finally looked at the chance that GOP dysfunction makes this a year when possibly it is different this time.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/maybe-republicans-really-are-in-disarray/

So if most pundits presume that the party always decides then clearly the choice is going to be Rubio or Jeb. With all Jeb's clear weaknesses as a candidate it stands to reason that therefore Rubio has to be the guy as we know that it will be one of the two as the party decides.

So the pundits are telling us Rubio hit a grand slam but then they've been promoting him for months. Nevetheless, if the other big narrative is true-that Jeb was crushed

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/jeb-bush-cnbc-republican-debate/

then it stands to reason by default it was a big night for Rubio.

There's a Daily Caller piece out that asks if being a skilled liar is a requirement for higher office. It's a hit piece on Hillary Clinton.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/10/28/has-being-a-skilled-liar-become-a-qualification-for-high-office/#ixzz3ptRPatH1

I don't agree that HRC's any kind of a liar, of course. But I do think there's a case that being a skilled liar is a requirement for being declared winner of a GOP debate.

Think about it, in the last debate, Carly Fiorina was coronated the big debate winner.

http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-lies-of-carly-fiorina_18.html

Her stellar performance was based on mawkish lies about a phony Planned Parenthood video and her own business record.

Now Rubio is being crowned King despite his lies about his personal debt. For some background on his personal debt please see this Washington Post piece.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/06/10/heres-the-real-issue-with-marco-rubios-finances/

While he demands rectitude out of us-he wants to go on a Holy War against government debt-he is personally profligate.

Last night when asked about this he flat out lied. What is a good sign is that conservatives like Ann Coulter-of all people-and Joe Scarborough are calling him out for his lies last night.

We'll see how this plays out. Does Rubio get the bounce the pundits are suggesting?

My one thought is that if Jeb is either down or out after this then by definition you will see some rise in Rubio's polls-if Jeb leaves, you'd presume that Rubio's nubmers would basically double-they both have about 7% in national polls.

I do agree with Greg Sargent's post this morning about Rubio. He is potentially a dangerous candidate.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/10/29/why-marco-rubio-is-so-effective-and-dangerous/

When you compare him and Jeb it's clear why the establishment would go with Rubio. Rubio wins hands down on the biography primary.

Unlike Jeb, he's considerably younger and can claim to be a new, fresh face. He would be able to hit HRC as being a 'dynasty candidate' whereas Jeb is the ultimate dynasty candidate.

I don't thin Rubio would beat Hillary-I don't think anyone in this clown car will-she must have been watching that debate last night humming Send in the Clowns where her only question is which clown she gets to beat up.

But I do think if you're the establishment you would logically think Rubio's winning biography has a better chance than Jeb's George W. Bush restoration tour.