Sen. Marco Rubio's selection to speak right after the president's State of the Union address marks another milestone in the swift rise of the political star.
Rubio became Florida's speaker of the House at just 35, he pulled off an upset victory over Gov. Charlie Crist in the U.S. Senate race in 2010, he was seen prominently campaigning with GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney last year, and he is already talked about as a future contender for the presidency.
Friends attribute his speedy ascent not only to his personal appeal, but also to out-hustling the competition and being in the right place at the right time.
This year, with the immigration issue becoming a priority in Washington, he is a sought-after voice, thanks to his personal story as the son of Cuban immigrants. He also gives Republicans a fresh face to appeal to new audiences -- especially to younger and Hispanic voters, both of which the GOP once again failed to win over in the last election.
Time magazine dubbed Rubio "The Republican Savior" on its cover and in a lengthy profile. (His modest response, via tweet: "There is only one savior, and it is not me. #jesus")
And now, the prime speaking slot he was selected for is adding to his cachet as an up-and-comer.
"Marco Rubio is one of our party's most dynamic and inspiring leaders," House Speaker John Boehner said last week.
But even for a politician known for being a good speaker, being awarded the State of the Union role is not without its pitfalls. While President Barack Obama's address has the benefit of a live audience and an imposing setting, the rebuttal, with no audience and no grandeur, can look small by comparison. Rubio will have to compete with the tea party response from Sen. Rand Paul. And Obama can be a tough act to follow -- just ask Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who got low marks for his speech in 2009.
A tough gig
"It is the toughest gig in politics, to follow a State of the Union with all the pomp and circumstance," says Rubio friend and CNN contributor Ana Navarro. "You're following the president of the United States who just got a number of standing ovations."
But regardless of how Tuesday night goes, Rubio has already moved front and center this year on the immigration debate. At a bipartisan press conference last month outlining a set of opening principles, he served as the Republican pitch man -- in English and Spanish -- and he capitalized on his own Cuban roots.
"I live surrounded by immigrants. My neighbors are immigrants," he said. "I see the good of immigration. I see how important it is for our future."
But while Rubio's efforts on the issue have won praise from party leaders like Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, they have also earned him the ire of conservatives who consider the path to citizenship a capitulation tantamount to amnesty.
An editorial in The National Review said, "He is wrong about how to go about repairing our immigration system," because he is acquiescing to an "amnesty-and-enforcement bill."
Conversely, just because Rubio is Hispanic does not mean he is immune to criticism from Hispanics, whether on immigration or on other topics like spending cuts. For example, at a protest last year, where signs said "no somos Rubios," one protester told CNN affiliate WSVN, "We feel the senator is not listening to the people."
It's a big risk for Rubio to take a central role in the coming immigration fight, says Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., a fellow Cuban-American. "But thank goodness for our party that he is willing to take that risk."
Analysts say Rubio's efforts on immigration could help Republicans appeal to Latino voters.
"They feel like the Republican Party hates them," veteran political strategist and analyst Dick Morris told CNN's Piers Morgan. "The Rubio bill has got to pass for Republicans ever to access that vote."
A product of exile community
Marco Antonio Rubio grew up in the exile community of West Miami, raised by parents who came from Cuba in the 1950s. He had long described himself as the son of political exiles who fled the Castro regime, but biographer Manuel Roig-Franzia of the Washington Post discovered that in fact his parents had left Cuba before Castro even came to power.
Rubio conceded the error, but rejected the suggestion that the revelation diminished his family's status as political exiles, or that he had embellished his family history.
"Do I wish I had known those dates earlier? Absolutely," he said. "Does it change anything? Absolutely not."
Rubio obtained his first job in politics while he was still a University of Miami student: an internship with Ros-Lehtinen.
She said Rubio impressed her as hard-working, well-spoken and eager to please. Even though he was just an intern, he would talk to voters and work the room on her behalf at events.
"He was a real people-person. He was not just hanging right by my side; he was doing his own networking for me, getting business cards," she said. "He just had standout qualities from day one."
A few years later, Rubio was running for commissioner in West Miami at age 26.
Rebeca Sosa, who was a commissioner at the time, said she was gardening at her house when he came to her asking for support and spelled out why he was running for office.
"I wasn't prepared to see such a young person bringing so much meaning, emotion to his answer of why, that I stopped everything I was doing and I told him, 'Let's go and have coffee,'" she said.
"At that age, usually they are thinking about 'party,' they are thinking about 'girlfriend;' and he was thinking about, 'What can I do to pay back to society?'"
Rubio soon got elected to the Florida House of Representatives and within just a few years his colleagues gave him a term as their leader: Speaker of the House.
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