In the GOP鈥檚 eagerness to appear an inclusive party, it sometimes seemed like every prominent female and minority politician 鈥� and quite a few less-than-prominent ones 鈥� were offered speaking spots at the convention.
The group that clearly has the most rising stars? Hispanics. (This category was going to read "Hispanic governors" until US Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida spoke Thursday night and blew everyone away.)
Governors Brian Sandoval (Nevada), Luis Fortu帽o (Puerto Rico), and Susana Martinez (New Mexico) all held their own, and Governor Martinez, in particular, told a moving personal story, reached out eloquently to Latinos, and offered a good warm-up for Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan.
But Senator Rubio really wowed the crowd with his ease and oratory, coming off as the future of his party.
He spoke eloquently about his grandfather, who came here from Cuba and instilled in him the notion of America as an 鈥渆xceptional鈥� country, where there was no limit to how far he could go, and managed to criticize Obama without sounding nasty.
鈥淥ur problem with Barack Obama isn鈥檛 that he鈥檚 a bad person,鈥� Rubio said. 鈥淥ur problem is he鈥檚 a bad president.鈥�
The party knows it needs to reach out to Latino voters if it wants to survive; watch for all these talented politicians to go places.
