No One Wants to Take Orders From Marco Rubio

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When the “establishment” is trying to figure out who they support in a presidential primary, I figure one of the key issues is: “Can I imagine myself taking orders from this person?”

OK, not “orders,” precisely. But you know what I mean. The president is the party leader, and one of the whole points of being part of the establishment is that you’re the kind of person who accepts the leadership of your president. This explains, for example, why the establishment is horrified about Donald Trump. They can’t imagine taking orders from a politically ignorant jackass like him. And they hate Ted Cruz’s guts, so they can’t abide the idea of taking orders from him either.

But what about Marco Rubio? Everyone’s been wondering lately why the establishment didn’t rally around Rubio earlier, since he seemed like sort of an obvious choice. My guess is that it’s not because they hate Rubio, or because they think he’s a buffoon. But they do think he’s a nervous and overly ambitious young man who’s a bit of an empty suit. If he’s the nominee, they’ll suck it up and support him. But the idea of taking orders from this pipsqueak sticks in their craw.

They’re in quite the pickle, aren’t they?

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

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