Rubio, new GOP hope, is master of the switcheroo

Here we are, in the Marco Rubio Moment.

The Republican establishment is thrilled: A moderate-sounding Gen X senator from a swing state! And one so good at spin he managed to give a victory speech in Iowa after he came in third. No wonder all the other candidates are jealous.

“This isn’t a student council election, everybody. This is an election for president of the United States. Let’s get the boy in the bubble out of the bubble,” snarked Chris Christie. He was referring to Rubio’s tendency to be rather scripted in his appearances.

Christie has also been saying that the speech Rubio sticks to is the same one he’s been giving since 2010. It’s true that there’s always the part about his parents, the striving Cuban immigrants. And you do get the feeling you’re supposed to vote for him because his dad and mom believed in the American dream.

As a young man, Rubio was not particularly hard-working. In his memoir he admits he could be “insufferably demanding.” But he did sympathize with his par- ents’ struggles, and when his father, a bartender, went on strike in 1984, Marco became “a committed union activist.”

And then — American dream! — the bartender’s son became a senator, who opposes raising the minimum wage and wants to eliminate “rules that empower unions.”

Rubio was a slow starter but he eventually graduated from law school, saddled with a load of student debt. This is, as he always points out, a familiar American story. The next part, where he instantly runs for office and acquires a billionaire benefactor who helps him out by underwriting lowstress jobs for Rubio and his wife, is slightly less average.

Rubio’s anti-choice, even for victims of rape and incest. Lately, he’s taken to pointing to instances when he supported legislation that did include an exception. This is true. As long as a bill makes it harder for women to have access to abortion, he’s there.

And then there’s the great Immigration Switcheroo:

2010 — Running for the U.S. Senate, Rubio is against giving people who are in the country without documentation any path to citizenship.

2013 — Rubio is a senator, and he becomes one of the famous bipartisan “Gang of Eight” pushing for immigration reform. The path-to-citizenship bill passes the Senate 68-32.

2013 — Fast forward a few weeks. The tea party is enraged, the House is unenthusiastic and Rubio is backtracking wildly.

2015 — Rubio is a candidate for president. He hates “amnesty.”

In the competition with the other super-conservative Cuban-American contender, Ted Cruz, Rubio is regarded as more likable. This is not a heavy lift. He is also competing with Cruz for the affection of Christian conservatives.

Rubio himself goes to two churches. Sometimes the family attends a Baptist-affiliated service on Saturday night and a Catholic Mass on Sunday.

Quick question: How would you feel about a candidate who’s both Protestant and Catholic?

A) That’s great. Maybe it’s a sign he’s open-minded. B) That’s OK, unless it’s just another way to fudge his positions. C) I am against bringing a person’s religion into the political arena. Which is why I wish Marco Rubio would stop telling us about his.