And then there's laughable self-promotion:
I’m running for president, because I want to change the direction of this country, and it will require me, for the time being, to miss some votes in the U.S. Senate, because I want those votes to matter again.
Remarkable. Rubio's rise to the presidency would not only "change the direction of this country" — of that I have no doubt, only paralyzing fear — his ascension would somehow reinvigorate the decrepit U.S. Senate, whose decrepitude Rubio the senator has contributed to.
When he's not showing up for work, he is gainsaying his senatorial positions — most of them opportunistically approached, loosely held, and expediently altered. That makes us rather grateful that he no longer shows up. If he'd just promise to do the same as president, my fear would abate.