WASHINGTON — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio showed this week how he has transitioned from fresh faced first-term senator to national Republican leader – and possible 2016 presidential candidate.
Rubio has been making the post-election rounds in Washington, appearing at both the Kemp Foundation Leadership Awards Dinner and then at a POLITICO Playbook Breakfast.
The senator, sounding a lot like 2016 candidate, has been touting himself as a decisive leader who is confident Congress can reach a debt deal while also reaching out to voters who aspire to be middle class, highlighting education and job creation.
“The great news is,” Rubio said at the breakfast, “technological advances are going to not only lower the lower the time and cost of getting that kind of skill acquisition but are going to make it much more accessible. What we have to do is make sure our student aid programs don’t stand in the way of it.”
The senator said student aid programs should accredit courses rather than schools and brought up his co-sponsorship of the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act. The bill would require institutions to provide students with more information about how much they can expect to owe in loans and make in salary with their major before they take out a loan.
The proposed legislation was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in February and is still stuck there.
Rubio has also not forgotten the main theme of Gov. Mitt Romney’s failed presidential campaign.
“The key to a vibrant middle class,” Rubio said at the Kemp Foundation dinner. “ Is an abundance of jobs that pay enough so that workers can provide for themselves and their families, enjoy leisure time, save for retirement and pay for their children’s education.”
The senator also stuck to the official script, deflecting speculation about his presidential prospects in 2016 while not entirely ruling out a run.
“I have a job now, and the best thing I can do is to do the best I can at the job that I have now,” Rubio said. “Because what I have learned from watching others and from myself, is that if you do a good job at your job, you always have other options. Opportunities present themselves, and sometimes it’s unexpected.”