Steve Kurlander: Florida’s political savior? Forget Rubio, think Tebow

“Don’t be troubled. You trust God, now trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” (John 14:1-4)

The Gator Nation and American evangelical sports fans had some bad news last week when they learned that their favored son Tim Tebow was cut (again) from his latest NFL team, the New England Patriots.

It seems that the former Heisman Trophy winner just is not an NFL caliber quarterback. It looks like he’s destined to join another Gator football deity, Steve Spurrier, on the “Top 10 Disappointing Heisman Winners” list.

And even if Patriot Coach Bill Belichick declined on Monday to rule out that struggling Tebow may in fact be allowed to rejoin the Patriots sometime this season, many sports pundits are calling for Tebow to call it quits, or play in the Canadian Football League to learn how to throw a football correctly.

“It’s time now to maybe just reconsider a different path to his ultimate dream. Tim might want to look to the CFL because he may have run out of options in the NFL,” San Francisco Quarterback Coach Steve Clarkson told USA Today.

If he is in fact out of option, then instead, it’s time for Tim Tebow to come home to the Gator Nation — and not to play football.

Instead, he should allow himself to be drafted by either of the floundering political parties desperately seeking to rebuild their brands in the Sunshine State by running for Congress, or even the governor’s mansion in 2014.

Doesn’t matter what office he would run for, he’d be  unbeatable.  Tebow’s the perfect immaculate candidate in the Sunshine State, if not the nation.

The amazing Tebow marketing machine has already established him as the most devout athlete in America, and consequently he already has a devoted following of evangelical Christians who represent a huge voting bloc in Florida.

Then add in the millions of University of Florida alumni and sports fans, whether they are Republicans, Democrats, or Independents who would dutifully color in the little circle next to his name wherever it appeared on the ballot.

Forget the treasure chest of Gov. Rick Scott, forget that amazing tan of Charlie Crist, and certainly forget Bank of America favorite Nan Rich.

The average Florida voter would embrace the pious pigskin celebrity of Tim Tebow over any of those folks.

Even Seminole and Hurricane fans would love him.

Think about it.  If Tebow runs for office, other than his throwing motion, he has absolutely no political baggage.

He’s what Florida and American needs in politics these days.  We’re talking a young, smart, accomplished candidate that’s the ultimate anti-Weiner candidate.  Instead of his tweeting his anatomical junk, he consistently streams biblical phrases to more than 2.4 million followers.

And unlike fellow football Florida deity Dan Marino, who would have a problem in the illegitimate kid department, Tebow is a “virgin” candidate in more ways than one.

And unlike Florida political nasties like Allen West and Alan Grayson, and even Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Tim Tebow would be the nicest guy Tallahassee or DC ever inducted into their divine halls of power.

And maybe, just maybe, he’d actually serve the public in an ethical, meaningful way — that’s a rare attribute these days in Washington.

If both Florida GOP Chair Lenny Curry and Florida Democratic Chair Allison Tant had any smarts, they’d be on the phone to Tebow’s agent telling them that everything’s ready to go in their training camp to transform Tebow into the ultimate candidate.

Yep, now is the time to consecrate the blessed deal of a lifetime to have Florida’s prodigal son head down to Tallahassee instead of Toronto.