Criticized for keeping a less-than-rigorous campaign schedule, Sen. Marco Rubio and his allies are starting to make more noise in the early primary states, leveling stiff attacks against a couple of the Florida Republican’s closest rivals in the hopes of bolstering his bid four weeks from the beginning of the nomination race.
Mr. Rubio has been busy painting Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas as a flip-flopper on immigration and weak on national security. He’s also casting New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as “Obama-lite” on some of the issues conservatives hold dear.
The stakes are high for Mr. Rubio. He has forgone running for re-election this year in order to seek the presidency and come under fire from his rivals for missing boatloads of votes in the Senate.
As it stands, Mr. Rubio is trailing Mr. Cruz by 20 percentage points in Iowa, which kicks off the nomination race on Feb. 1. And he is running neck-and-neck with Mr. Cruz and Mr. Christie in New Hampshire, ahead of its first-in-the-nation primary on Feb. 9.
Speaking Tuesday with CNN in Iowa, Mr. Rubio slammed parts of Mr. Cruz’s voting record in the Senate.
“He has voted for and supported a containment budget that would reduce national security. I think we need to rebuild the U.S. military,” Mr. Rubio told CNN. “He is in favor of weakening our intelligence programs. I am in favor of strengthening and expanding them.”
Mr. Rubio’s stops in Iowa Tuesday coincided with the release of a new ad from Conservative Solutions PAC, a group backing him, that accused Mr. Christie of embracing many of the same policy positions as President Obama.
“Chris Christie could well be President Obama’s favorite Republican governor,” the narrators says in the ad. “Chris Christie: One high tax, Common Core, liberal energy loving, Obamacare Medicaid expanding President is enough.”
Mr. Rubio defended the ad, saying the accusations it makes are “true.”
“This country cannot afford a president that’s not going to reverse the direction that Barack Obama has taken our country,” Mr. Rubio told CNN between campaign stops in Iowa Tuesday, alluding to Mr. Christie. “We can’t have another president that supports Common Core or gun control or expanding Obamacare.”
For his part, Mr. Christie has made the case to voters that he is better prepared to lead the nation than members of Congress because of the executive experience he has gained during his two-terms as governor.
Mr. Cruz, meanwhile, has laughed off Mr. Rubio’s attacks over immigration and likened Mr. Rubio’s stances on national defense and foreign policy to those of President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“It’s not surprising that Senator Rubio, and others in the Republican field, are launching more and more desperate attacks,” Mr. Cruz told Breitbart this week. “We should protect the United States of America first. That means we shouldn’t engage in the kind of military adventurism that has characterized Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and sadly, far too many establishment Republicans including Marco Rubio.
And a pro-Cruz super PAC called Keep the Promise I has attacked Mr. Rubio, saying in a new television ad and press release that he is more interested in teaming up with Democrats on bad policy and on keeping up with fantasy football than keeping the nation safe.
“The country needs a serious, thoughtful leader they can trust, one with a record of promoting border security and national security, not missing key votes and standing with Chuck Schumer and Barack Obama to advance amnesty,” said Kellyanne Conway, president of Keep the Promise I, alluding to the 2013 immigration bill that has haunted Mr. Rubio on the campaign trail.
“The nonsense of which candidate would you rather have a beer with or have in your Fantasy Football League has been replaced with a single, sober question: Who can you trust to keep Americans safe, stop terrorists, destroy ISIS and restore our standing in the world?” Ms. Conway said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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