Marco Rubio Tries To Still Debate Over His Religion
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Marco Rubio, the new Florida senator and one of the Republican Party’s brightest stars, has been trying to stifle a debate over his religious affiliation amid allegations that, contrary to his claims, he is not a Roman Catholic.

Marco Rubio and family. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
Mr Rubio, 39, a darling of the Tea Party and touted as a future presidential candidate, was born and raised a Catholic by his Cuban parents. However, for the past six years he and his wife have attended the Christ Fellowship, a Florida congregation which describes itself as “non-denominational” but is affiliated to the Southern Baptist Convention, whose theology is firmly anti-Catholic.

According to the St Petersburg Times, Mr Rubio has donated much of the $66,000 he has given to charity since 2000 to the Christ Fellowship.

Alex Burgos, a spokesman for Mr Rubio, told The Daily Telegraph on Friday: “[Marco] regularly attends Catholic Mass, and he was baptised, confirmed and married in the Roman Catholic Church. On the final Sunday of the campaign, for example, he attended Mass at Christ the King Catholic Church in Tampa ... He also attends services at a Christian church with his wife and children.” Asked why Mr Rubio attended a non-Catholic church regularly. the spokesman said: “He attends both regularly.” >>> Damian Thompson | Friday, November 12, 2010

Marco Rubio: Latino or not?
THE WASHINGTON TIMES: MONGTOMERY VILLAGE, Md. November 11, 2010 — Marco Rubio won his bid for senate for Florida this past November 2nd. He is the son of a Cuban bartender and a hotel domestic worker.

Marco really embraced the American Way. He left his parents’ traditional, Roman Catholic religion to convert and attend an Evangelical community, received a law degree, and married a Miami Dolphins cheer leader. He is also articulate, apparently intelligent and good looking.

Even before the media started hinting at a possible “first Latino president”, I was thinking of this possibility. This doesn’t mean that I am smart or a personal friend of his (very far from it). With the Republican Party in need of “dream team” candidates, he will rise to the top.
 


I do however have a problem with Marco being the first Latino president of the United States. While in school I met and befriended several of the early arrival Cuban Americans. I remember that to a man, when asked if they were Latinos or Hispanics, they would respond, - “No, I am not, I am Cuban.” >>> Mario Salazar | Friday, November 12, 2010

Pink-shorts Senator Has Presidential Bulge
TIMES ONLINE: HE was supposed to be the he-man of the US Senate, a truck-driving triathlon-completing [sic] former male model who sends female colleagues into a swoon. But America’s newest senator showed a more feminine side this weekend with the revelation that he wore pink leather shorts on his first date with his future wife.

Scott Brown is the most prominent senator in America, his victory last month in the seat long held by the Kennedys having given Republicans a crucial vote to block President Barack Obama’s agenda.

With attention already turning to the 2012 presidential race, Brown is the surprise name on the list of Republican contenders. In the most recent poll he ranked fourth above party stalwarts such as Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee.

There was fury among supporters last week after he was one of five Republicans unexpectedly to vote in support of Obama’s jobs bill. “You let me down like Tiger Woods,” was typical of the messages posted on his Facebook page, where he was castigated as a Rino (Republican in name only).

The revelation about the pink leather shorts came from his daughter Arianna, 19, who may have been getting her own back for his embarrassing remark about her and her sister on election night when he announced that they were “available”.

According to a profile in today’s New York Times magazine, Brown went pale when asked about the shorts. He said they had been given to him in part payment for a modelling assignment and he wore them because they looked good with his tanned legs. “If I wore these now,” he said, “I’d get shot. But it was the 1980s. Pastels were in. It was all pastely.” >>> Christina Lamb in Washington | Sunday, February 28, 2010