Mickey Kaus: Rubio Is the Republican John Edwards

Anti-amnesty blogger Mickey Kaus highlighted Marco Rubio’s penchant for dodging questions by retreating to his memorized stump speech and labeled the donor-class candidate the Republican John Edwards.

“Rubio’s the GOP John Edwards,” Kaus tweeted. “Both Rubio and Edwards have the gift of gab, which only takes you so far.”

In an email to Breitbart News, Kaus elaborated on the comparison: “I remember seeing John Edwards talk in New Hampshire in ’04. Great stump speech, but even with questions he didn’t add much more. Left you feeling hungry. I didn’t admit it to myself at the time but it was a signal Edwards was a lightweight (even without the later scandal). I get the same impression watching Rubio, even when I can distance myself from his amnesty betrayal.”

Kaus’ suggestion that Rubio’s success hinges upon his reliance on carefully-crafted talking points seems reinforced by the observation of a local New Hampshire reporter, who likened Rubio to a “computer algorithm designed to cover talking points… It was like someone wound him up, pointed him toward the doors and pushed ‘play,'” the New Hampshire reporter noted.

Kaus’ observation that Rubio is able to retreat to his stump speech seems enabled by the media’s reluctance to ask Rubio challenging questions about his longstanding support of open borders trade and immigration policies.

For instance, on Tuesday night, Fox News’s Megyn Kelly gushed and oozed over Rubio in an almost uncomfortable way. She began her interview with Rubio by playing a clip of Rush Limbaugh praising Rubio as a conservative, in spite of Rubio’s push for open borders. Kelly did not ask Rubio a single question about his longstanding support for open-borders trade and immigration policies. Instead, she asked Rubio if he agreed with the praise he received from Rush Limbaugh.

“Let’s start with Rush Limbaugh’s comment, do you agree that you are no moderate centrist?” Kelly asked.

Throughout the interview, Kelly was effusive in her praise of Rubio’s ability to recite a memorized speech without a teleprompter: “You are very smooth. Your acceptance — well, not acceptance [speech] — but your remarks last night were amazing. You were so articulate. There was no teleprompter.”

During the interview, after Kelly failed to ask Rubio a single question about his desire to expand immigration levels or his support for Obama’s trade agenda, Kelly said: “I will vouch for you — that you have come on the Kelly File regularly, and you always sit for the tough questions. And I’ll note for the record, you never complain, never once — even if we ask really tough questions, which I appreciate.”

Fox News’ founder, Rupert Murdoch, is a co-chair of what is arguably one of the biggest immigration lobbying firms in the country, The Partnership for a New American Economy. Through his lobbying firm, Murdoch has endorsed Rubio’s 2013 amnesty bill as well as his 2015 immigration expansion bill. Murdoch has also endorsed President Obama’s immigration agenda, which Rubio has said would be the “second pillar” of a President Rubio’s three-pillar foreign policy strategy.

Interestingly, while Murdoch’s immigration lobbying firm is called the Partnership for a New American Economy, an entire portion of Rubio’s website is devoted to building what he calls, “The New American Economy.”