Marco Rubio is a copycat, but he is a damn-good
copycat. Pathos, pathos, pathos! I preach this in every election and I’ll
continue to shout it from the hill tops. In 2008, a first term senator from the
state of Illinois upset the powerhouse that goes by the name of Hillary
Clinton. The name Clinton alone should’ve been enough for her to gain her party’s
nomination and the White House. Yet, as Clinton sorrowfully learned, there isn’t
enough name recognition in the world that beats pathos. Yes, I understand there
is more to gaining the White House than a good speech or being genuine with
people; you actually have to have something we common folk call a brain. Yet
for some reason in every election I’ve been able to follow and critically
understand, the one key that has stuck out to me is pathos. When this
Republican presidential field opened up who would’ve thought that the Donald
Trump would still be here, or the front-runner nonetheless? Or that a retired
neurosurgeon would be in second? For reasons still unknown to me and most sane
Americans, none of the people with governing experience are being looked at. In
a heated and crowded primary like this one, it’s hard to standout when you have
characters like Trump who suck all the air and free media out of the room.
There hasn’t been any wiggle room for the standard politician to operate as
they should. Yet one candidate has flown under the radar and up the polls. Yes
you guessed it — the copycat himself Marco Rubio.
Since his presidential bid in
April, Rubio hasn’t made splashes in any media outlets or made any
uncharacteristic remarks. Hell, for a second there you would’ve guessed he
dropped out. The Senator from Florida has kept relatively quiet and has waited
patiently for moments to strike. As a Democrat myself, I must say I am
particularly impressed. From the moment you see him, there is one thing you can
get out of Rubio and that’s pathos.
Rubio is by far the best public speaker out of the bunch, articulating
his thoughts in a way that the American people will understand. He has given
two solid performances on the debate stage, and who could forget the masterful
answer he gave on Black Lives Matter questions — something that has given every
democrat a problem so far (https://youtu.be/5bXpgJUjquo). He takes every chance he can get to tell the story
of his parents’ hardship and escape from communist-ruled Cuba. Then there is
the story on how worked his way from the ground up to become a United States
Senator. Pathos! Pathos! Pathos! You see, in order for pathos to work
effectively there needs to be sympathy behind a good story that’s relatable to
people. And there is no better story than an underdog that society casted off
from birth rising to the top. Sound familiar? (Obama ‘08).
Now it would be
unfair to use one example to flat-out call Mr. Rubio a copycat so let’s look
back. Obama was a first time senator seeking the presidency; Rubio is a first
time senator seeking the presidency. Obama was a long-shot fighting against a
presidential legacy in Clinton; Rubio is a long-shot fighting a presidential
legacy in Bush. Obama was minority playing the pathos family immigration game
to gain votes; Rubio is a minority playing the pathos family immigration game
to gain votes. Finally, Obama was largely inexperienced and considered too
young (46); Rubio is largely inexperienced and considered too young (44).
We are a long way from the primaries and an even longer way from Election Day, but if the tea leaves prove right, Marco Rubio will be the Grand Old Party’s nominee, provided he cleans up some weaknesses and puts a solid ticket together (Kasich). If he keeps churning out the pathos, he may be president yet. Quite scary isn’t it? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet, though. There is still time for him to drop like an anchor at port. Though he is following the Obama scheme from ’08 there is no guarantee that its will work eight years later or fully with GOP voters. For now we can only wait and see as the senator from Florida slowly climbs the polls and gives the audiences the Pathos Kid performances.
~Consigliere
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