The junior senator from Florida had a heck of an election year: Short-listed for VP. Wrote a memoir of his Cuban heritage. Gave a tough, moving convention speech—maybe the best of its kind since Obama's. Michael Hainey talks to Marco Rubio about growing up in the shadow of Castro, his love of Tupac, and whether he's going to have an even better 2016
Two years ago, Marco Rubio was a little-known baby-faced Florida pol, toiling away in Tallahassee. Then the almighty Tea Party got behind his long-shot bid for the U.S. Senate. Cut to this year. The 42-year-old Cuban-American spent a good chunk of 2012 swatting away speculation that he would join Mitt Romney on the ticket. Yet at the Republican convention, it was Rubio's optimistic, confident, and centered speech that left many wondering if they should start printing RUBIO '16 placards right now.
I met up with Rubio in the back room of a local community center in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. He had just come from the GQ photo shoot and was still sweating from the early-morning heat. Rubio smiles a lot and likes to put people at ease. But he also speaks with the restraint of a guy who knows everything he says will be parsed and, most likely, used against him. "I've learned the hard way," he says. "You have to always be thinking how your actions today will be viewed at a later date."
···
GQ: You're the first senator I've ever spoken to who had a transformative life experience at a South Beach foam party—committing to the woman who became your wife.
Marco Rubio: That was an important moment. I'd say I made the right call. It was embarrassing too because my shoes were a cheap brand and when I walked out they were white. They were black when I went in.
GQ: How do you balance ambition and humility?
Marco Rubio: I'll let you know [laughs]. We're working on that. Where it really comes into play is deciding things you really have to do and the things you want to do. Especially with my family. I have four kids. In the past, I would try to figure out how could I go to that thing and maybe leave a little early so that I could make it to my kids thing; but increasingly, I've figured out that you're either all in or you're not.
GQ: Do you think you're moving too fast?
Marco Rubio: For most of my life I've been in a hurry. I don't regret any of the choices I've made, but sometimes timing isn't up for us to decide on taking some of the opportunities as they present themselves.
GQ: We've seen people tend toward inspiring transformational figures. You know you had Barack Obama in 2004...
Marco : I don't know how inspiring I am to people on the left [laughs], but I'm not a big believer in transformative people in politics. There are people that have a historic opportunity to speak the truth and take on issues of the historic moment.
GQ: Do you want to be one of those people?
Marco Rubio: That's not something you can choose to be. That's something that just happens and falls on your lap. Usually, it falls on your lap during periods of extreme trial and I don't think any of us want to experience extreme trial for our country. We would much prefer to be not historic on those terms. I think I've been given a unique opportunity to serve during an important time in American history and I would like to make a contribution. I am troubled that sometimes in our political discourse we spend all of our time focused on the challenges of the next century rather than on the opportunities of the new century.
GQ: People often talk about how there are politicians and there are leaders.
Marco Rubio: A politician is very good at navigating the process of politics. It involves getting a few things done for the people who sent you there, but mostly perpetuating your time in office. A leader may end up being able to accomplish that, but is more motivated by the desire to accomplish something, and usually when you try to accomplish something you're almost never judged kindly by your contemporaries. I think that's true for all great leaders. If you look back, they were almost all significantly unpopular or had tremendous opposition they faced because of what they were trying to do.
GQ: By that definition Obama would fall into that, right?
Marco Rubio: Just because you have opposition doesn't make you a great leader. The opposition faced by Barack Obama is a lot more based on an ideology and view of government that stands in contrast with what half this country believes. That's why there is great opposition to him and I think there will be the same type of opposition for the person who gets elected and believes in the same things I believe in.
GQ: The Republican strategy after Obama came into office was to make sure the president didn't have another term. The Republicans didn't have a plan and were just going to say no to everything the president put forth.
Marco Rubio: I don't know how many people bought into that. There were some in politics who believed that all you had to do was be the alternative to the incumbent and you would win, but I never believed in that. I've always believed that you were better on offense than you were on defense. You were much better being for something than against someone. I think the bigger challenge that we face, and that we continue to face, is that we have not done a good enough job of communicating to people what conservatism is. In fact, we've allowed a myth to take hold in the minds of some that conservatism is about helping the people who have "made it" and not about helping the people who are trying to make it. I think we have a very compelling argument, which happens to be true: the people who have made it, billionaires and multi-billion dollar corporations, they may not like big government, but they can afford to deal with it. They can hire the best lawyers in America and try to figure out the loopholes and the best lobbyists to create them. In fact, they use big government to their advantage. They'll have regulations and rules written to hurt their competition. So, big government helps the people who have made it. It doesn't help the people who are trying to make it, it crushes the people who are trying to make it. So, our challenge is, if we want free enterprise, limited government, and conservatism to be a viable and successful political movement in America, we've got to make that connection for people.
GQ: One of the poignant moments in your book is when you're hanging out with your grandfather on the porch. If he were with you now, what are some things you would ask him?
Marco : My sense is that he would be troubled by the promise that more government can deliver. I'm not making any comparison between Barack Obama and Castro from Cuba—but I was raised in a community of people who were told that if government had more power it could equalize things and it could give them more than others, and at the minimum undo some of the unfair things that had been done to them, and they were very skeptical of that given the experience that they had had.
GQ: You were obviously very moved by your grandfather's dignity and your father's dignity. What are the qualities that would qualify for a man to have dignity?
Marco : Ultimately, the dignity that my grandfather and father had was showing up every day and providing for their families. The challenges they faced were very basic. You know, I think I said it in the book a tough day for me is if I lose an election or get a bad story in the paper. A tough day for my dad was they might be late on the rent. A tough day for my grandfather might have meant his daughters didn't eat.
GQ: How old do you think the Earth is?
Marco Rubio: I'm not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that's a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I'm not a scientist. I don't think I'm qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer that. It's one of the great mysteries.
GQ: You talk a lot to young Republicans. Recently I met a Republican who said, my kids are in high school and there's a prom. There's straight kids, gay kids. It's no big deal to them. And he says, my party, the Republican party, has to stop putting these social issues out there and talking more about stuff that effects people.
Marco Rubio: I think that's unfair. A significant percentage of Americans feel very strongly about this issue. What I'm hearing is that it's ok for one side to express their view and the other side needs to be quiet. There are a very significant number of Americans that feel very strongly about the issue of life, about the issue of marriage and are we saying that they should be silenced or not allowed to speak or voice their opinion? There's a way to do that that is respectful and productive. There are things we'll always disagree on, but it doesn't mean we go to war over them or divide our country over them. We agree to disagree, but we continue to work together on the things we all know that we have to do.
GQ: Who's your best friend?
Marco Rubio: My wife. We talk every day.
GQ: Besides your wife.
Marco Rubio: [South Carolina Senator and Tea Party favorite] Jim DeMint. He's a great source of wisdom as a person who's had to make decisions that have made him unpopular in his own party. Jeb Bush is another guy I admire for his ability to analyze issues and call them for what they are.
GQ: Your autobiography also has to be the first time a politician has cited a love of Afrika Bambaataa. Did you have a favorite Afrika Bambaataa song?
Marco Rubio: All the normal ones. People forget how dominant Public Enemy became in the mid 80s. No one talks about how transformative they were. And then that led to the 90s and the sort of East Coast v. West Coast stuff, which is kinda when I came of age. There's a great documentary on Tupac called Resurrection about the last few years of Tupac's life and how he transformed. And, ironically, how this East Coast rapper became this West Coast icon, back when all that Death Row/Sean Combs stuff was going on. Hip Hop's 30 years old now and it's crossed over and sort of become indistinguishable from pop music in general. You know, many people say Nicki Minaj is a rapper, but she's also a singer. Kanye's another guy who's also a rapper, but his songs aren't pure rap anymore. There's also all these collaborations going on, which confuses everything. You know you've got the guy from Miami, Pitbull, who's on TV selling a car and then he's advertising for Dr. Pepper.
GQ: Your three favorite rap songs?
Marco Rubio: "Straight Outta Compton" by N.W.A. "Killuminati" by Tupac. Eminem's "Lose Yourself."
GQ: Is there a song you play to psych you up before a vote in the Senate?
Marco Rubio: I'm not like an athlete. The only guy that speaks at any sort of depth is, in my mind, Eminem. He's a guy that does music that talks about the struggles of addiction and before that violence, with growing up in a broken family, not being a good enough father. So, you know that's what I enjoy about it. It's harder to listen to than ever before because I have a bunch of kids and you just can't put it on. But in terms of psyching yourself up, I don't have time for that. You know you can't put on earphones and the storm the floor and vote [laughs].
GQ: So, Pitbull's too cheesy?
Marco Rubio: His songs are all party songs. There's no message for him, compared to like an Eminem. But look, there's always been a role for that in American music. There's always been a party person, but he's a young guy. You know, maybe as he gets older, he'll reflect in his music more as time goes on. I mean, he's not Tupac. He's not gonna be writing poetry.
I met up with Rubio in the back room of a local community center in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. He had just come from the GQ photo shoot and was still sweating from the early-morning heat. Rubio smiles a lot and likes to put people at ease. But he also speaks with the restraint of a guy who knows everything he says will be parsed and, most likely, used against him. "I've learned the hard way," he says. "You have to always be thinking how your actions today will be viewed at a later date."
···
GQ: You're the first senator I've ever spoken to who had a transformative life experience at a South Beach foam party—committing to the woman who became your wife.
Marco Rubio: That was an important moment. I'd say I made the right call. It was embarrassing too because my shoes were a cheap brand and when I walked out they were white. They were black when I went in.
GQ: How do you balance ambition and humility?
Marco Rubio: I'll let you know [laughs]. We're working on that. Where it really comes into play is deciding things you really have to do and the things you want to do. Especially with my family. I have four kids. In the past, I would try to figure out how could I go to that thing and maybe leave a little early so that I could make it to my kids thing; but increasingly, I've figured out that you're either all in or you're not.
Marco Rubio: For most of my life I've been in a hurry. I don't regret any of the choices I've made, but sometimes timing isn't up for us to decide on taking some of the opportunities as they present themselves.
GQ: We've seen people tend toward inspiring transformational figures. You know you had Barack Obama in 2004...
Marco : I don't know how inspiring I am to people on the left [laughs], but I'm not a big believer in transformative people in politics. There are people that have a historic opportunity to speak the truth and take on issues of the historic moment.
GQ: Do you want to be one of those people?
Marco Rubio: That's not something you can choose to be. That's something that just happens and falls on your lap. Usually, it falls on your lap during periods of extreme trial and I don't think any of us want to experience extreme trial for our country. We would much prefer to be not historic on those terms. I think I've been given a unique opportunity to serve during an important time in American history and I would like to make a contribution. I am troubled that sometimes in our political discourse we spend all of our time focused on the challenges of the next century rather than on the opportunities of the new century.
GQ: People often talk about how there are politicians and there are leaders.
Marco Rubio: A politician is very good at navigating the process of politics. It involves getting a few things done for the people who sent you there, but mostly perpetuating your time in office. A leader may end up being able to accomplish that, but is more motivated by the desire to accomplish something, and usually when you try to accomplish something you're almost never judged kindly by your contemporaries. I think that's true for all great leaders. If you look back, they were almost all significantly unpopular or had tremendous opposition they faced because of what they were trying to do.
GQ: By that definition Obama would fall into that, right?
Marco Rubio: Just because you have opposition doesn't make you a great leader. The opposition faced by Barack Obama is a lot more based on an ideology and view of government that stands in contrast with what half this country believes. That's why there is great opposition to him and I think there will be the same type of opposition for the person who gets elected and believes in the same things I believe in.
GQ: The Republican strategy after Obama came into office was to make sure the president didn't have another term. The Republicans didn't have a plan and were just going to say no to everything the president put forth.
Marco Rubio: I don't know how many people bought into that. There were some in politics who believed that all you had to do was be the alternative to the incumbent and you would win, but I never believed in that. I've always believed that you were better on offense than you were on defense. You were much better being for something than against someone. I think the bigger challenge that we face, and that we continue to face, is that we have not done a good enough job of communicating to people what conservatism is. In fact, we've allowed a myth to take hold in the minds of some that conservatism is about helping the people who have "made it" and not about helping the people who are trying to make it. I think we have a very compelling argument, which happens to be true: the people who have made it, billionaires and multi-billion dollar corporations, they may not like big government, but they can afford to deal with it. They can hire the best lawyers in America and try to figure out the loopholes and the best lobbyists to create them. In fact, they use big government to their advantage. They'll have regulations and rules written to hurt their competition. So, big government helps the people who have made it. It doesn't help the people who are trying to make it, it crushes the people who are trying to make it. So, our challenge is, if we want free enterprise, limited government, and conservatism to be a viable and successful political movement in America, we've got to make that connection for people.
GQ: One of the poignant moments in your book is when you're hanging out with your grandfather on the porch. If he were with you now, what are some things you would ask him?
Marco : My sense is that he would be troubled by the promise that more government can deliver. I'm not making any comparison between Barack Obama and Castro from Cuba—but I was raised in a community of people who were told that if government had more power it could equalize things and it could give them more than others, and at the minimum undo some of the unfair things that had been done to them, and they were very skeptical of that given the experience that they had had.
GQ: You were obviously very moved by your grandfather's dignity and your father's dignity. What are the qualities that would qualify for a man to have dignity?
Marco : Ultimately, the dignity that my grandfather and father had was showing up every day and providing for their families. The challenges they faced were very basic. You know, I think I said it in the book a tough day for me is if I lose an election or get a bad story in the paper. A tough day for my dad was they might be late on the rent. A tough day for my grandfather might have meant his daughters didn't eat.
GQ: How old do you think the Earth is?
Marco Rubio: I'm not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that's a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I'm not a scientist. I don't think I'm qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer that. It's one of the great mysteries.
GQ: You talk a lot to young Republicans. Recently I met a Republican who said, my kids are in high school and there's a prom. There's straight kids, gay kids. It's no big deal to them. And he says, my party, the Republican party, has to stop putting these social issues out there and talking more about stuff that effects people.
Marco Rubio: I think that's unfair. A significant percentage of Americans feel very strongly about this issue. What I'm hearing is that it's ok for one side to express their view and the other side needs to be quiet. There are a very significant number of Americans that feel very strongly about the issue of life, about the issue of marriage and are we saying that they should be silenced or not allowed to speak or voice their opinion? There's a way to do that that is respectful and productive. There are things we'll always disagree on, but it doesn't mean we go to war over them or divide our country over them. We agree to disagree, but we continue to work together on the things we all know that we have to do.
GQ: Who's your best friend?
Marco Rubio: My wife. We talk every day.
GQ: Besides your wife.
Marco Rubio: [South Carolina Senator and Tea Party favorite] Jim DeMint. He's a great source of wisdom as a person who's had to make decisions that have made him unpopular in his own party. Jeb Bush is another guy I admire for his ability to analyze issues and call them for what they are.
GQ: Your autobiography also has to be the first time a politician has cited a love of Afrika Bambaataa. Did you have a favorite Afrika Bambaataa song?
Marco Rubio: All the normal ones. People forget how dominant Public Enemy became in the mid 80s. No one talks about how transformative they were. And then that led to the 90s and the sort of East Coast v. West Coast stuff, which is kinda when I came of age. There's a great documentary on Tupac called Resurrection about the last few years of Tupac's life and how he transformed. And, ironically, how this East Coast rapper became this West Coast icon, back when all that Death Row/Sean Combs stuff was going on. Hip Hop's 30 years old now and it's crossed over and sort of become indistinguishable from pop music in general. You know, many people say Nicki Minaj is a rapper, but she's also a singer. Kanye's another guy who's also a rapper, but his songs aren't pure rap anymore. There's also all these collaborations going on, which confuses everything. You know you've got the guy from Miami, Pitbull, who's on TV selling a car and then he's advertising for Dr. Pepper.
GQ: Your three favorite rap songs?
Marco Rubio: "Straight Outta Compton" by N.W.A. "Killuminati" by Tupac. Eminem's "Lose Yourself."
GQ: Is there a song you play to psych you up before a vote in the Senate?
Marco Rubio: I'm not like an athlete. The only guy that speaks at any sort of depth is, in my mind, Eminem. He's a guy that does music that talks about the struggles of addiction and before that violence, with growing up in a broken family, not being a good enough father. So, you know that's what I enjoy about it. It's harder to listen to than ever before because I have a bunch of kids and you just can't put it on. But in terms of psyching yourself up, I don't have time for that. You know you can't put on earphones and the storm the floor and vote [laughs].
GQ: So, Pitbull's too cheesy?
Marco Rubio: His songs are all party songs. There's no message for him, compared to like an Eminem. But look, there's always been a role for that in American music. There's always been a party person, but he's a young guy. You know, maybe as he gets older, he'll reflect in his music more as time goes on. I mean, he's not Tupac. He's not gonna be writing poetry.
No comments:
Post a Comment