Ryan, Rubio plot party future as 2016 talk starts

WASHINGTON — Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio, two potential 2016 presidential candidates, laid out policy prescriptions for their Republican Party on Tuesday night, nudging a party still smarting from Mitt Romney’s loss to President Barack Obama to reach out to a broader audience.

Ryan, the GOP’s vice presidential nominee in November’s election and chairman of the powerful House Budget Committee, told his audience that their party cannot write off large swaths of Americans — a subtle reminder of Mitt Romney’s remarks criticizing 47 percent of Americans who don’t pay income taxes. And Ryan made clear that he would be making poverty in America a central part of his political message as he weighs a presidential campaign of his own.

“You know, both parties tend to divide Americans into our voters and their voters. Let’s be really clear: Republicans must steer very clear of that trap. We must speak to the aspirations and the anxieties of every American,” Ryan said at a dinner to honor his former boss, Jack Kemp, who also was a failed GOP vice presidential nominee.

Rubio, too, said the party risked irrelevance if it only appealed to wealthy voters and made clear the party had to reach out to large segments of the electorate that Romney seemed to write off. Should Rubio run, his pitch and personal biography seem tailored to those voters.

“There are millions of Mario Rubios all across America today,” Rubio said of his father, a bartender whom he described as “poor and motherless with limited education.”

“They aren’t looking for a handout,” Rubio continued. “All they just want is a job that provides for their families. … It all starts with our people — in the kitchens of our hotels, in the landscaping crews that work in our neighborhoods, in the late night janitorial shifts that clean our offices. That’s where you will find the dreams America was built on, that’s where you will find the promise of tomorrow.”

The 2016 presidential race was an undercurrent to the evening. As he began his remarks, Ryan joked that he and Rubio soon would be sharing meals in states that lead off the nominating calendar.

“Know any good diners in New Hampshire or Iowa?” Ryan asked the room to laughter before delivering a speech on ending poverty. “I’m sure the press won’t read too much into that one.”

Rubio, who already has made a trip to Iowa since Election Day, made a nod to another state that is early in the primary calendar.

“I will not stand by and watch the people of South Carolina ignored,” Rubio said to more laughter.

Ryan’s remarks on poverty closely resembled a speech he gave in Cleveland during the campaign’s final weeks. Ryan had hoped to use that speech to reset a flailing Romney-Ryan campaign, perhaps blunt the criticism of Romney’s “47 percent” remarks and make an appeal to struggling Americans a cornerstone of a final push.

Romney’s aides in Boston put a nix on that campaign strategy and Ryan returned to his standard speech the next day.

Ryan, now freed of Romney’s handlers, was reflective at times about his 12 weeks on the ticket and offered praise to his political partners Kemp and Romney during his 20-minute speech here.

“Now Jack and I share something else in common: We both used to be the next vice president of the United States,” Ryan said. “You know, although I wish this election had turned out differently, I’m proud of the campaign Mitt Romney and I ran.”

But, he acknowledged, “the election, it didn’t go our way, and the Republican Party can’t make excuses.”

He hinted the 2012 campaign was unlikely to be his last.

“Losing is part of politics, and can often prepare the way for the greatest victories,” Ryan said.

Rubio, too, seemed attuned to a 2016 campaign. His remarks borrowed heavily from lines he tested in Iowa just a week after November’s elections and suggested a message on poverty and education might be central to a 2016 campaign.

“The path to a prosperous and growing American middle class is the combination of a vibrant economy that creates these middle-class jobs and a people with the skills needed for these new jobs,” said Rubio, urged by some to make a White House run of his own in 2012. Rubio was often pushed as a potential Romney running mate.

“Not so long ago, even if you didn’t graduate from high school, if you were willing to work, you could find a job that paid enough for you to buy a home, start a family and eventually send your kids to college and a better life,” Rubio said. “Those days are long gone, and they are probably not coming back.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Search underway to find missing Everett child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday morning at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.