Romney-_ _ _ _ _, 2012

Fill in the blanks. Play hangman. Former Clinton-era Labor Secretary Robert Reich spells it, R-U-B-I-O.

Last week Reich predicted Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden would be trading jobs. Obama-Clinton, 2012. This week, his thought on the opposition. The emphasis is mine:

For his running mate, Romney will choose Marco Rubio, the junior senator from Florida. Why do I say this?

First, Romney will need a right-winger to calm and woo the Republican right. Tea Partiers are attracted to Rubio – an evangelical Christian committed to reducing taxes and shrinking government. Rubio’s meteoric rise in the Florida House before coming to Congress was based on a string of conservative stances on state issues.

Rubio is also a proven campaigner, handily winning four House elections starting in 2002, and then beating popular incumbent Republican governor Charlie Crist in the 2010 Republican primary — with the help of Tea Partiers.

Moreover, he’s only 40, thereby giving the GOP ticket some youthful vigor.

And he’s Hispanic – a Cuban-American – at a time when the GOP needs to court the Hispanic vote.

1) Rubio ain’t going nowhere with the Hispanic vote. Not with Mitt Romney coming out this week saying he would veto the Dream Act. For the most part, Rubio’s only base is in the Cuban-American community, where Republicans have an advantage anyway. He may sway some Cuban-Americans in Miami who would otherwise vote for Obama, but not a big deal. He will help with Florida overall, though.

2) Rubio’s evangelical credits are questionable, at best. He was raised a Catholic, but attends an evangelical church. Lots of rumors that he still attends Catholic mass. The right wing would have no problem with a convert from Catholicism, but if there are questions about his sincerity, it will be a real issue. As a Hispanic, he has more to prove in the born-again realm. Rubio may be seen as a flip-flopper in the only way Romney is not: with reference to his religion.

Romney-Rubio, 2012? Not impossible. But not without its problems.

And did I say just how despicable Mitt Romney’s stance on the Dream Act really is? The Dream Act as presently conceived – the one Romney would veto – would give a path to citizenship to young folk who spend time in the military or attend college. Romney said he would consider a path to residency – not citizenship, only for those who serve in the military.

I've said it before, and I’ll say it again. We’re good enough to die for the country, but not to get a proper education.