cpac 2015 Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said that Republicans would be unfairly blamed for a government shutdown over the immigration executive action at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday. He was asked by Fox News host Sean Hannity why there was a fear of Republicans being blamed if Congress allows the government to shut down. "Because we are, they do," he said. "That's the hypocrisy of this, right? So when we're in the minority and we fillibuster ObamaCare — we want to repeal or at least get a vote on it — we're shutting down the government. When they're in the minority, and their fillibustering getting rid of this executive order, we're shutting down the government too. Any way you look at it, that's how they're going to portray it." His comments come as congressional Republicans look to avert a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security over President Obama’s executive action on immigration. House Republicans will vote Friday on a continuing resolution to fund the Department through mid-March. Rubio and his colleagues in the Senate are expected to follow suit, though they will also vote on a longer-term funding bill. Some conservatives having taken issue with the short term measure because it does not block the executive action. Rubio: 'Hypocrisy' that GOP would get shutdown blame At the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL) answered a question about the possibility that he might run for President by saying, "I don't want to be in politics my whole life." Rubio initially said that if a politician believes he should pursue the nation's highest office, he should do it no matter what. But then he told his interviewer, Fox News host Sean Hannity, that he had plans beyond his career in Washington, D.C. “The truth is, Sean, I don’t wanna be in politics my whole life," he said. "I wanna serve my country and do other things.” Still, Rubio made it clear that while he's in the game, he wants to make a difference. “I don’t want my kids to grow up one day and ask me, how come you got to grow up in the greatest country in the world, but we get to live in a a country that's diminished?" Hannity threw a few names at Rubio in a game of word association. Hillary Clinton? “Yesterday.” Bill Clinton? “Whats the next one?” And Barack Obama? “Failed.” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the most focused on national security of the potential 2016 field, told an audience of conservative activists Friday that the administration’s “Obama-Clinton” foreign policy means “our allies no longer trust us and our enemies no longer fear us. This is the road our president has placed us on.’’ At 43, Rubio is the youngest of the potential presidential candidates appearing at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Asked what the words “Hillary Clinton” meant to him, he replied, “Yesterday.” Barack Obama? “Failed.”Rubio advocated a ground war against the Islamic State fought by a “coalition” of Mideast nations aided by U.S. special operation forces and U.S. air support. “If we wanted to defeat them militarily, we would do it,” Rubio said, but President Obama “doesn’t want to upset Iran.” Rubio drew criticism from his own party when he advocated immigration reform that would allow a pathway to citizenship for immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. He has since changed his position. “It wasn’t very popular, I don’t know if you know that from people here,” he joked before the CPAC audience. “What I’ve learned is that you can’t even have a conversation about that until people believe” that future illegal immigration will be controlled. He also said opposition to President Obama’s executive order allowing some illegal immigrants to stay in the country is “a constitutional issue.” The U.S. is “exceptional,” Rubio said and “the world knows. After all, when was the last time you heard about a boatload of American refugees arriving on the shores of another country?” Rubio said it was his fifth appearance at CPAC: “My first time was 2010 when I was 50 points down in the polls and the only people who thought I could win my Senate race all lived in my home.” But it was his first as a potential presidential candidate. “The bad news is that our country is on the road to decline. But here’s the good news: we are one election away from triggering another American century.” Rubio said he had not yet decided whether to run. He did check off a list of issues that appear to be top of mind for the CPAC audience: he opposes Common Core educational standards, abortion rights, same-sex marriage, and marijuana legalization. CPAC activists praised Rubio’s speech but did not seem ready to endorse him — and some wondered whether he will even get into the race. Contributing: David Jackson

• published: 27 Feb 2015
• views: 17281