The Spectacle Blog
In an e-mail message to editors of The American Spectator, an aide to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) writes:
The main story on the Spectator’s website right now about Rubio’s chief of staff is wrong. Cesar did not have anything to do with the Florida primary date. I’m not sure who his “source” is, but he didn’t check with our office before publishing the story - if he had, we would have told him the truth, which is that our office had nothing to do with the primary date.
This references my column today, “Republican Campaign Armageddon,” which in turn involves an item I posted yesterday on my personal blog. Also today, Rubio denied the story to Florida conservative blogger Javier Manjarres:
“Don’t you think if something like that had happened, you would have heard something? 100% fiction, they just made it up out of thin air … Ok, BTW, if this were true, it means you got scooped in you own state!!!! Hahaha”
As explained in a follow-up at my blog today, “Well, of course he denies it,” which is why I didn’t bother calling yesterday to ask Rubio’s chief of staff Cesar Conda: “Is it true, as my sources tell me, that you’ve been working behind the scenes to encourage Florida Republicans to violate RNC rules by moving their primary to January, to help your buddy Mitt Romney win the GOP nomination?” — insert furious words here — “OK, so I’ll take that as a denial.”
One of the problems with quoting anonymous sources is that they’re anonymous for a reason. If your story is challenged, and your source could get fired if their identity were known, the requirements of confidentially prevent you from saying, “Well, here’s who says it’s true,” with the source’s reputation as evidence of credibility. So I’m on the hook, and Rubio’s denial is a matter of record, and I’m sure we’ll all be laughing and having beers together at the Republican convention in Florida in August.
And it is important to note, as one of my sources reminded me this afternoon, that Rubio himself has been an outspoken advocate of holding Florida’s primary early, as reported by Alexander Burns of Politico in February. So if Cesar Conda was also privately advocating an early Florida primary (which is officially denied), then this would not contradict his boss’s strongly expressed opinion. And the fact that Conda and other key Rubio staffers worked on Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign (reported by Scott Wong of Politico last week) may be entirely a coincidence.
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More Blog Posts by Robert Stacy McCain
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/10/14/marco-rubio-denies-his-office
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CalMark| 10.14.11 @ 6:31PM
Funny, that he emailed AmSpec to deny, but not R.S. McCain personally, who broke the story on his blog.
I think Rubio is lying. I've looked at him cross-eyed ever since he declined to join the Congressional Tea Party Caucus.
Everyone's known for a long time that Romney would run. Anticipating Tea Party/conservative challenges, I suspect the Establishment cooked this up and sprung it when convenient.
Too much smoke for there not to be fire.
Solo| 10.14.11 @ 8:32PM
Oh yeah.....I'm sure the whole thing is just one HUGE coincidence, huh?
Anyone.....and I mean ANYONE who even tacitly supports Romney is permanently off my "vote-for list". Chris Christy just made the list. I guess Rubio is next.
sjccoach| 10.14.11 @ 8:53PM
Methinks he doth protest too much. It looks like the establishment is beginning to coopt Rubio. Rubio has promise I hope he will change his mind and fight the establishment.
crazy| 10.14.11 @ 9:14PM
Hope your source has his resume updated. If s/his job is at risk as you say it shouldn't take Cesar and company long to deduce who ratted him out. Unless Cesar ...
Bob K.| 10.14.11 @ 10:21PM
So what?
Hold them all before Christmas. Then we won't have to wait out all these damn debates!
Sean| 10.14.11 @ 11:35PM
Rubio is probably the least conservative of the Tea Party elected Senator's from last election.
Rogue Elephant| 10.15.11 @ 12:42AM
Who cares? I mean, really. The primary system is (necessary) but arbitrary. Who could blame any state from feeling slighted and taking it upon themselves to upset the apple cart? Why should anyone be bound by the machinations of a dubious GOP establishment?
aware| 10.15.11 @ 9:39AM
I tried to tell you that you were being hoodwinked by this guy and only got ridicule from the "Rubio for Prez" wing. See what defending a politician gets you? What a dog pile of confusion conservatism has become. I'm saying the same about the "leading contenders" now so ridicule away. Better yet, just bend over and say "thank you sir may I have another".
Political Gal| 10.15.11 @ 8:38PM
I lost a lot of respect for Rubio as he cowardly remained quiet when Perry was accused of being "soft on illegal immigration". Rubio, while a state legislator, co-sponsored legislation in 2003 and 2004 to allow in-state tuition for children of illegals - a state's right issue. He is a better Senator than Charlie Crist, but he no longer has my support. I am against anyone who has ANY connections to Mitt Romney - past, present, and future.
Manuel dos Santos| 10.16.11 @ 3:13PM
Very questionable, this anonymous sourcing. Serious reporting is undermined by the widespread acceptance of this pernicious (and, unfortunately, well established) method. It undercuts credibility while making the readers feel the pols and the reporters are playing games and taking them for fools. (Which they have every right to feel anyway, since that's largely what pols and reporters do.) This cynical attitude is confirmed when you make eyewinking remarks about having a drink and laughing it off with the very people whose integrity you are impugning. A serious political reporter tells his source he won't use him if he can't quote him, then he goes and does his work and may very well come up with even more embarrassing material and he can source it openly.
Manuel dos Santos| 10.16.11 @ 3:13PM
Very questionable, this anonymous sourcing. Serious reporting is undermined by the widespread acceptance of this pernicious (and, unfortunately, well established) method. It undercuts credibility while making the readers feel the pols and the reporters are playing games and taking them for fools. (Which they have every right to feel anyway, since that's largely what pols and reporters do.) This cynical attitude is confirmed when you make eyewinking remarks about having a drink and laughing it off with the very people whose integrity you are impugning. A serious political reporter tells his source he won't use him if he can't quote him, then he goes and does his work and may very well come up with even more embarrassing material and he can source it openly.
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Casey Abell| 10.17.11 @ 8:57AM
Robert's obsession with the date of the Florida primary grow and grows. Pretty soon it may engulf the Milky Way Galaxy.
Pahokee Pete| 10.17.11 @ 11:22AM
The squishy ones in Florida are very concerned we might dare to choose wrong. The republican ruling class have a history of primary manipulation so as to avoid any unwanted results. The Bushes, with the slug Rove have done their part in the past too. They just love playing king maker. They are scared to death we might choose the wrong fella this go round..
The Republican Party of Florida is still a corrupt and totally worthless organization that exists only to serve the wishes of the "establishment" here and inside the beltway as well as K Street.
In a just world the headquarters would be bulldozed and everyone involved "invited" to leave the state. Permanently.
It will take many more elections to purge these slugs from the system. We, at least, now have Rubio's number!
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