Marco Rubio and the Florida Tea Party: Hate to say ‘I told you so’

“Tea Party darling” from the state of Florida, Sen. Marco Rubio (R) is not quite the darling anymore as demonstrated  during an anti-immigration reform rally outside the U.S. Capitol on June 19, 2013.

Caricature by donkeyhotey, donkeyhotey.wordpress.com

The “face” of the Tea Party in 2010 drew the ire of the Tea Party crowd yesterday over his  amnesty stance in the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” immigration bill.

In an ABC News report Wednesday, it states toward the end of the article:

But some conservative activists just can’t shake the feeling that Rubio has abandoned them for greener pastures.

“He’s being influenced by establishment Republicans and others like Lindsey Graham and John McCain,” said Ronald King, a crowd member from North Carolina.

Surprised? I’m not. I saw through the Rubio facade more than three years ago as I wrote for the news blog, The Desk of Brian in 2010.

On Sept. 2010 I wrote, “I personally would think the Florida Tea Party would be pissed at Rubio…face it, he used you.

“He rode the tea party wave to force Crist out of the way to get the Republican nomination. Then he didn’t even acknowledge the tea party. Reality is he’s done with you. He got what he wanted.”

Later in the piece–“Now he received $2.5 million from the National Republican Senatorial Committee…he’s one of the boys now. He is on Fox every other day espousing a very Republican agenda (notice I didn’t say conservative).

“My God, he fooled so many…”

Hate to say it, but I told you so.

Florida Tea Party: What Did Karl Rove Have To Say About Rubio? (Update With Transcripts)

Rubio Is Not Quite As Conservative As He Claims To Be

Florida Senate Debate At USF: Rubio Shows His Neocon Ways, Meek Tells The World Why Crist Is An Independent