The shine has come off of Senator Marco Rubio’s stardom, at least according to a new poll from CNN and a ranking of the nation’s most influential conservatives.
In the CNN poll, seventeen percent of Republicans and Independents who lean toward the GOP say they are likely to support New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, with 16% backing Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the House Budget Committee chairman and 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is at 13%; former Gov. Jeb Bush at 10%; Rubio at 9%; Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 7%, and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a 2012 Republican presidential candidate who battled eventual nominee Mitt Romney deep into the primary season, at 5%.
As Paul Steinhauser, CNN’s political director, writes, the first-term senator, considered a rock star among many Republicans, registered in the upper teens in polls of the possible GOP 2016 horserace conducted by other organizations earlier this year.
But Rubio’s support of immigration reform — he was a high profile member of a bipartisan group of senators who pushed immigration reform passage through the Senate this spring — may have hurt his standing with many conservative voters opposed to such efforts.
CNN’s aren’t the only bad numbers for Rubio. Townhall.com has published a list of the “25 Most Influential People On The Right” and all Rubio warrants is an honorable mention. There’s a blogger named Greg Gutfeld on the list, but not Rubio?
As Adam Smith of the Tampa Bay Times tweeted after reading the list, “Ouch.”
