Dude Who Swore He’d Be A Private Citizen In 2017 Now Seeking Another Term In Senate

In perhaps the least surprising news of the week, former White House hopeful and forever parched Marco Rubio reversed course and will now run for re-election for his Florida Senate seat. As you may remember, Rubio made the bold decision to give up his office in order to run for president, likely thinking that even if he didn’t win the GOP nomination, he’d still be a frontrunner for VP or a high-level cabinet position.

But, lo and behold, Donald Trump happened, and just like that, Lil’ Marco was out of the running, losing badly in his home state primary in mid-March. The embarrassing defeat led to him suspending his campaign. Yet, despite the quick ouster, he stood by his initial promise that he wouldn’t run for re-election in the Senate, stating that he’d be a private citizen in January 2017.

Of course, time changes everything, and the stark realization that he’d not be a somebody anymore obviously started getting to him. Sure, he could be a Fox News talking head, but that doesn’t have the same cache as being a SENATOR. (Even if Marco had said how much he really despises doing the work of legislating.) Lobbying also isn’t all that sexy, either, even if it might pay beaucoup bucks.

With Trump’s trainwreck of a candidacy now making it look more and more likely that the GOP will lose the Senate in November, Rubio’s colleagues (and Trump himself) also started urging him to rethink his choice, especially with polls showing him ahead of potential Democratic challengers while the other GOP candidates lagged behind. If the Dems win the White House, they only need to flip five seats to gain the majority. Considering Republican seats in Illinois, Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Arizona and Wisconsin are either leaning blue or toss-ups, the GOP is desperate to hang on to Florida.

Thus, we have Marco going back on his word, which is what he does best (immigration reform anyone?), and jumping back in when he swore for months he was done with the Senate. Marco Rubio, Man of Principle!