Marco Rubio in Speech at 2015 CPAC conference

On Foreign Policy: I have a clear strategic vision of America's role in world

Rubio is clearly aware that many of the presidential candidates are current or former governors. But the Florida senator believes he would have an important advantage over his GOP rivals: "The next president needs to be someone that has a clear view of what's happening in the world, a clear strategic vision of America's role in it and a clear practical plan for how to engage America in global affairs," Rubio said. He added that for governors running for the White House, international affairs will be "a challenge, at least initially, because they don't deal with foreign policy on a daily basis."

On the surface, that's not a bad pitch. Indeed, presidential candidates from the Senate have made similar arguments against governors for many years. But listening to Rubio's remarks at CPAC, the trouble is that own his views on foreign policy need quite a bit of work. [Rubio criticized Obama but offered the same policy as Obama on ISIS; and Rubio sounded like he meant that ISIS and Iran weren't enemies].

Source: MSNBC on 2015 Conservative Political Action Conf. Feb 27, 2015

On Foreign Policy: Obama has no ISIS policy to avoid upsetting Iran

Rubio's remarks solicited applause from the mostly college-aged audience, as did the senator's claim that "the reason Obama hasn't put in place a military strategy to defeat ISIS is because he doesn't want to upset Iran," during sensitive negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.

The notion that the president wouldn't go after ISIS because he "doesn't want to upset Iran" is bizarre--ISIS and Iran are enemies. Tehran is more than happy to see U.S. forces go after ISIS targets; in fact, Iran has done the same thing. When it comes to the terrorist group, Americans and Iranians are on the same side. How could Rubio not know this?

For that matter, the argument that Obama "hasn't put in place a military strategy to defeat ISIS" is plainly untrue. Rubio should know this, not only because he's a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but also because Obama's strategy to defeat ISIS is largely identical to Marco Rubio's.

Source: MSNBC on 2015 Conservative Political Action Conf. Feb 27, 2015

On Immigration: Deal with border & future immigrants BEFORE any amnesty

Rubio received a standing ovation from a CPAC crowd after an engaging speech and Q&A in which he attacked President Obama's executive orders on immigration and said that he knew "the strongest argument" against the immigration bill that he helped draft was proven true. "What I've learned is you can't even have a conversation about [illegal immigrants already in the country] until people believe and know, not just believe, but it's proven to them, that future illegal immigration is brought under control," he said during the Q&A. "That is the single biggest lesson I've learned."

Rubio said that "the strongest argument" against the Gang of Eight amnesty bill he once co-sponsored--the complaint that the legal status was provided before the border was secured--was "proven to be true" by President Obama's executive actions on immigration. "The president not once but now twice has basically said by executive order, 'I won't enforce the law,'" he said.

Source: National Review on 2015 Conservative Political Action Conf. Feb 27, 2015

On War & Peace: ISIS plan: US air support for Sunni forces on the ground

[In his CPAC speech, Rubio said, "ISIS is a radical Sunni Islamic group. They need to be defeated on the ground by a Sunni military force with air support from the United States. Put together a coalition of armed regional governments to confront [ISIS] on the ground with U.S. special forces support, logistical support, intelligence support and the most devastating air support possible, and you will wipe ISIS out."

Obama's strategy to defeat ISIS is largely identical to Marco Rubio's. The senator fleshed this out at CPAC: target ISIS by using local ground forces, coupled with air support from the United States, all while U.S. officials take the lead in assembling an international coalition. That, as of this morning, is Rubio's plan. It's also exactly what Obama has been doing since August.

Source: MSNBC on 2015 Conservative Political Action Conf. Feb 27, 2015

The above quotations are from Speeches to Conservative Political Action Conference, Feb. 26-27, 2015. Click here for other excerpts from Speeches to Conservative Political Action Conference, Feb. 26-27, 2015. Click here for other excerpts by Marco Rubio. Click here for a profile of Marco Rubio.
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Page last updated: Jul 18, 2019