What are the odds that Marco Rubio, one of the senatorial “Fiscal Cliff 8” who voted against the budget compromise, employed the ultimate political calculation before going thumbs down on the deal? Might it have been that he first had to feel confident that the uber-hyped deadline–with all its attendant controversy, international interest and apocalyptic speculation–would, indeed, pass?
Then, presumably, he couldn’t be vilified as a party-first obstructionist. He would, ostensibly, simply have been voting on “principle”–the one that demonizes tax hikes for anybody anytime–especially in the absence of spending reforms. The one that would–when rationalized with that customarily glib Rubio charisma–likely play well down the road in certain caucuses. Just askin’.