"Marco Rubio Shifts Focus From Immigration To Health Care Law"
Marco Rubio Shifts Focus From Immigration To Health Care Law
By MICHAEL J. MISHAK at the Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/20/marco-rubio-immigration_n_3785958.html
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"We know you, and we've always loved you," Washburn said, "and yet you're pushing this and it's a real problem for us."
The exchange and Rubio's reluctance to raise the issue after spending months advocating for comprehensive immigration reform underscore why the potential presidential candidate has undertaken a sort of image-rehabilitation tour, promoting his conservative bona fides to crowds in Florida's most Republican bastions.
Once embraced by the tea party, Rubio's name can now elicit boos and catcalls at rallies. And since he began championing immigration changes, his standing has slipped in some polls.
The senator acknowledges the fallout. He told Republicans in Panama City, "Politically, it has not been a pleasant experience, to say the least." But his aides insist that his pivot to health care is driven by policy, not politics, that he's simply giving the U.S. House its own space to tackle immigration.
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