Marco Rubio Rising, Jeb Bush Falling: The Two Floridians A Generation Apart!

It now seems clear that Florida Senator Marco Rubio is gaining support, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is rapidly losing support in the Republican Presidential race.

Rubio always has called Bush his “mentor”,  as Rubio entered the Florida legislature during the tenure of Jeb Bush as Governor of the “Sunshine” State.

Also, Rubio is almost a full generation younger than Bush, born 18 years after Bush.

Bush, more than ever, is seen as representing the past, the Bush Dynasty, and has been out of office since the end of 2006.

Rubio is one of the youngest Senators, and has been in office since the new century began, and is portraying himself as the “new generation” of leadership, the kind of appeal that John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama used as a pitch when they ran for President on the Democratic Party side.

The Democrats now have a problem, if Marco Rubio is able to become the Republican Presidential nominee, as their three leading candidates—Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Joe Biden, if he enters the race–will be 69 to 75 at the beginning of their term of office, making them 24 to 30 years older than the Florida Senator.

Generally, the nation goes for the younger candidate for President, with the exception in modern times of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984.

Martin O’Malley, former Governor of Maryland, represents the “younger generation” in the Democratic Party, but has not “taken off” at all, a perplexing situation, and again, a problem for the Democratic Party as it enters the 2016 Presidential competition.

5 comments on “Marco Rubio Rising, Jeb Bush Falling: The Two Floridians A Generation Apart!

  1. Former Republican September 28, 2015 5:46 pm

    Re: O’Malley – He has no real space in the race- Clinton is the moderate while Bernie occupies the left. He doesn’t really have any defining issue or position other than being the guy who actually implemented a lot of the policies (Gay Marriage, HCR, Minimum Wage, etc) Hillary and Bernie are running on.

  2. Rustbelt Democrat September 28, 2015 7:03 pm

    Jim Webb is also facing the issue of no specific niche within the race.

  3. Ronald September 28, 2015 7:25 pm

    And the same with Lincoln Chafee!

  4. D September 29, 2015 4:35 am

    Ronald writes, “Generally, the nation goes for the younger candidate for President, with the exception in modern times of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984.”

    Add the 1988 contest: George Bush (R-Texas), born in 1924, vs. Michael Dukakis (D-Massachusetts), born in 1933.

    We can also add 1972: Richard Nixon (R-California), born in 1913, vs. George McGovern (D-South Dakota), born in 1922.

    I know…the nine-year age differences aren’t that much.

    Neither is a ten-year age difference from the 1950s elections of Dwight Eisenhower (R-New York/Pennsylvania), born in 1890, vs. Adlai Stevenson (D-Illinois), born in 1900.

    I think the Democrats, if they hold on to the presidency with the results of Election 2016, are looking to sort of echo the Republicans’ third consecutive victory of 1988.

    I do want to add this: At some point, as we know, the Republicans will flip the presidency. But, I would anticipate, if that winner gets two terms, that the U.S. House of Representatives (and, with it, very likely the U.S. Senate) will flip Democratic. In the last 100 years (since the 17th Amendment from the 1910s), every president having reached election to two terms saw his party lose majority control of at least one of these two houses of Congress. (Exceptions: Franklin Roosevelt, who never lost same-party control with either house, and Richard Nixon, who never once had same-party control of either house of Congress.) That can inspire a different topic: “Which should you prefer: The Presidency or the Congress?”

  5. Ronald September 29, 2015 6:51 am

    Brilliant piece, D!

    You are totally accurate in that 1988, 1972, and 1952 and 1956 saw the older candidate win, something that slipped my mind for some reason.

    Good question you bring up–which is preferable, the Congress or the Presidency in control by one’s party favorite.

    I would say the Presidency is still the jewel!

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