Sen. Marco Rubio, who on Monday officially announced that he’s running for president in 2016, says he’ll have plenty of experience by the time Inauguration Day 2017 rolls around, saying there are significant differences in that regard between himself and another first-term U.S. senator who was elected president.
“Well, there’s a difference between Barack Obama and I, and I think our histories are much different,” Mr. Rubio, Florida Republican, said Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” program. “I’ve served in local government, [I] served in state government for nine years in the third-largest state in the country, I was the speaker of the Florida House — all that before I even got to Washington four and a half years ago.”
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, for one, has predicted that Americans are not going to go with another “untested” U.S. senator after eight years of Mr. Obama in the White House.
But in announcing his own candidacy, Mr. Rubio, 43, is pitching himself as a leader for the future, as opposed to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who announced her own run on the Democratic side on Sunday.
“Just yesterday, a leader from yesterday began a campaign for president by promising to take us back to yesterday,” Mr. Rubio said of Mrs. Clinton on Monday. “Yesterday’s over, and we are never going back.”
On Tuesday, he said that by the time he’s sworn in, he’ll have served a full term in the Senate, which will include work on the Foreign Relations and Select Intelligence Committees.
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“So there are some significant differences in terms of experience and background between where I am today and where then-Senator Obama was when he was elected,” Mr. Rubio said.
Mr. Rubio also predicted he would remain friends throughout the process with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is weighing a presidential run of his own on the Republican side.
“I just honestly believe that at this moment in our history, we need to move in a new direction as a country, and obviously Governor Bush is going to be a strong candidate with his own set of ideas,” he said. “I think people will listen to those ideas and be impressed.”
“But ultimately, I feel at this moment that I’m best positioned to help lead this country into the 21st century,” Mr. Rubio said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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