Washington DC: After days of promoting a “big announcement” on his Twitter feed and Facebook page, the senator let the news slip on a conference call Monday morning, telling donors that he was “uniquely qualified” for the office, according to the Associated Press.
Rubio has repeatedly sought to drive the narrative that he is the fresh young face of tomorrow, in contrast to presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and all-but-certain primary opponent and fellow Floridian Jeb Bush.
“Yesterday is over, and we are never going back,” he’ll say. “We Americans are proud of our history, but our country has always been about the future. Before us now is the opportunity to author the greatest chapter yet in the amazing story of America. We can’t do that by going back to the leaders and ideas of the past. We must change the decisions we are making by changing the people who are making them.”
In the speech, he outlined the pillars of his campaign’s “new American century.”
“If we reform our tax code, reduce regulations, control spending, modernize our immigration laws and repeal and replace ObamaCare, the American people will create millions of better-paying modern jobs,” he said.
Rubio is making his pitch at Miami’s Freedom Tower, an iconic landmark that’s steeped in meaning for both the senator personally and the types of voters his campaign hopes to draw. An Ellis Island of sorts for Cuban exiles arriving in Miami, the building fits well with Rubio’s long-burnished narrative of the American Dream: He repeated the oft-told story of how his mother, a maid, and father, a bartender—both Cuban exiles—were able to raise a son who went on to become a U.S. Senator. He even titled his treatise on the economy, released earlier this year, American Dreams.
MUST READ: Why Hillary Clinton as President of the United States is good news for India
“In this very room five decades ago, tens of thousands of Cuban exiles began their new lives in America,” he said. “Their story is part of the larger story of the American miracle. How, united by a common faith in their God given right to go as far as their talent and work would take them, a collection of immigrants and exiles, former slaves and refugees, together built the freest and most prosperous nation ever.”
The building served as an assistance center for Cuban refugees from 1962 to 1974, giving thousands of exiles access to basic medical services as well as food handouts. In using the structure as a backdrop for his campaign launch, Rubio, the second Cuban-American to join the fight for the Republican nomination—his Senate colleague Ted Cruz is the son of a Cuban exile who fled Batista’s rule—hopes to drive home his forward-looking campaign slogan, “A New American Century.”
The setting also draws a contrast between his humble beginnings and the dynastic backgrounds of Clinton, the wife of a former president, and Bush, the son and brother of presidents.
“For almost all of human history, power and wealth belonged only to a select few,” Rubio said Monday. “Most people who have ever lived were trapped by the circumstances of their birth, destined to live the life their parents had. But America is different. Here, we are the children and grandchildren of people who refused to accept this.”
In a nod to Prince, he joked,
“Because while our people and economy are pushing the boundaries of the 21st century, too many of our leaders and their ideas are stuck in the twentieth century.
They are busy looking backward, so they do not see how jobs and prosperity today depend on our ability to compete in a global economy. So our leaders put us at a disadvantage by taxing, borrowing and regulating like it’s 1999.”
This isn’t the end of Rubio’s Monday. Following the post-announcement paths of Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, the senator will appear on Fox News’ Hannity tonight for an hour-long interview.
Hillary Clinton as next US president will be good news for India
As secretary of state in the Barack Obama administration, Indian diplomats say she stood by India on many occasions, especially on the subject of terrorism. Photo: AFP© LiveMint As secretary of state in the Barack Obama administration, Indian diplomats say she stood by India on many occasions, especially on the subject of terrorism. Photo: AFP
In fact, popular lore has it that she was a friend of India in the White House during the years that her husband Bill Clinton was president (1992-2000).
One of the earliest visits of Hillary Clinton to India was as first lady in March 1995. India was till then seen as a blip on the US radar, given that the two countries had little in common by way of strategic interests. However, India was beginning to pique US interest because it had announced a series of economic reforms in 1991 and was beginning to open up its economy to foreign investments.
The visit to India was part of a tour of South Asia. The India visit, according to news reports, was spurred in part by an invitation issued to her in 1994 by the Albania-born nun Mother Teresa to visit her homes for children in India during the latter’s visit to Washington.
By the end of the South Asia visit that included stops in Delhi—where she met then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi—and Ahmedabad, Hillary Clinton was said to be impressed by the colour and vibrancy of India. She is said to have played a role in ensuring Bill Clinton did focus on India. Hillary Clinton returned to India in 1997 with daughter Chelsea for the funeral of Mother Teresa.
More recently, as secretary of state in the Barack Obama administration (2009-13), Indian diplomats say she stood by India on many occasions, especially on the subject of terrorism.
