Peter Schorsch
In the past, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio had harsh words for fellow senators who failed to appear for important votes.
“Why do you get paid to be here, then, if you’re not going to vote on anything?” he once said.
However, since mounting his own bid for the White House, the Miami Republican might be changing his tune.
A new Factivists video – produced by the Democratic National Committee – spotlights the irony of Rubio’s words, in light of the claim he missed more than 40 percent of Senate votes this year, all while continuing to collect his $40,000 taxpayer-funded paycheck.
The 30-second digital ad features a variety of clips:
“If you don’t want to vote, don’t run for the Senate.” If I don’t come up here and try to fix problems that I have a chance to fix, than what am I here for?
“Why do you get paid to be here, then, if you’re not going to vote on anything.”
“If you don’t want to vote on things, don’t run for office. Be a columnist, get a talk show.”
While Rubio’s work record has become a talking point for Democrats, fellow Republican candidates are also taking note. Both GOP front-runner Donald Trump and fellow Floridian Jeb Bush have brought up voting records.
To Bush’s credit, the former governor did not mention Rubio by name when he said senators “should vote when there’s a reauthorization of the defense bill.”
DNC spokeswoman Christina Freundlich was not so generous.
“Glad that Marco Rubio can change his tune so quickly when he is trying to give himself a promotion,” Freundlich said in a prepared statement. “These days he’s been that it’s ‘not a big deal’ that he has missed over 40 percent of his votes since announcing his candidacy.
“Marco Rubio’s answer on this issue is as absent as his voting record, and this is just another example of his failure to lead.”
