Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, says if he runs for president, it won’t be “against” anyone.
“It’ll be because I believe I have an agenda that no one else is offering on our side of the aisle, and I believe I would do a better job than they would,” Mr. Rubio said on “CBS This Morning.”
Asked about 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, Mr. Rubio said that “the more quality people that run for president, the better,” because it provides a chance to debate ideas he outlines in his new book, “American Dreams: Restoring Economic Opportunity for Everyone.”
Mr. Romney recently told donors he’s thinking about running for president a third time in 2016, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is also weighing a bid.
“I hope we can have a debate in the Republican party about the best way to restore middle-class opportunity,” he said.
The Tampa Bay Times reported that Mr. Rubio’s book tour will include an appearance on The Daily Show and a taped interview with Katie Couric.
The paper and other publications have written about the book, which will hit stores this week, in which Mr. Rubio writes that an election of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to the White House would be “nothing more than a third Obama term” and that “another Clinton presidency would be a death blow to the American Dream.”
A few ideas he pitches include a so-called “student investment plan” that would allow businesses to get a percentage of employees’ after graduation pay if they pay for workers’ college tuition and a 30 percent “federal wage enhancement” for people making less than $20,000 as an alternative to the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Mr. Rubio, whose support for a comprehensive immigration bill in 2013 cost him some support among conservatives, also advocates a step-by-step approach on the issue with an emphasis on security.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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