Friday on PBS’s “NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks discussed the rise newly elected Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who is emerging as one of the front-runners for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.
According to Brooks, the rise of the Ryan and Rubio represent a “generational shift” for the GOP.
“Temperamentally, he’s sort of fit for it. He had a nice line in there, that he said, if we have clarity, we will have more charity,” Brooks said. “And that is both sides of him. He has certain convictions, a pretty conservative guy. But he is also a really nice guy who does get along with people and who is a very charitable guy. And so I think, temperamentally, he’s well suited for the moment, as much as anybody can be. But he does believe in certain things. And I think, if there is — can be small agreements over the next couple of months, or 18 months, whatever it is, he will go for it. But I don’t expect that to happen. I think the big news of Paul Ryan’s ascension is that it’s possible that the Republican Party, after really veering off into some very dangerous political territory, now as its most prominent spokesperson has Paul Ryan, a very mainstream, popular, admirable, and attractive figure. It may, if the presidential race turns out a certain way, have Marco Rubio. And Ryan and Rubio is a generational shift and probably quite an excellent leadership team as the two faces of the Republican Party.”
Brooks went on to say he predicts the battle for the nomination will come down between Rubio and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and expressed his doubts that current front-runner Donald Trump would be the Republican Party’s nominee.
“I think it will — I do think it will be Cruz and Rubio at the end of the day,” he added. “I think Cruz will inherit the — and Republicans are really angry. They think the country is going down the tubes. And so they have to express that somehow. They are expressing it now. And I think — but those voters will eventually wind up with Cruz, and then the mainstream voters will wind up with somebody like Rubio or Kasich or who knows. But I just can’t imagine. A major American party doesn’t nominate Donald Trump. I just can’t believe it. I will have to go to Canada after that.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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