Marco Rubio

Ann Romney is assured a prime-time network speaking slot in the revamped speaking schedule for next week's Republican National Convention. Organizers moved presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney's wife from Monday - when the three networks said they would offer no comprehensive prime-time coverage - to Tuesday, when NBC, ABC and CBS all pledged to offer at least an hour of programming from the Tampa convention. By moving the time slot for Romney's wife, the Republicans solidified a prime-time lineup that tilts heavily toward attracting support from two key groups - women and Latinos - while also tending to the candidate's sizable likability deficit.

WASHINGTON - In a nod to onetime vice presidential contenders, the Republican convention has given key roles to Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor, and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. Christie will deliver the keynote address while Rubio, a conservative favorite, will introduce Romney on Aug. 30, the final night of the gathering in Tampa. Announcing the lineup, Republican National Convention Chairman Reince Priebus called Christie “a leader of principle and conviction,” and Rubio “one of America's most dynamic and inspiring leaders.” Christie said it was an honor to deliver the convention's keynote address.

WASHINGTON - Rob who? Ohio Sen. Rob Portman remains the betting favorite to be chosen as Mitt Romney's running mate, but a new poll finds that Marco Rubio is the leading choice of Republican voters nationwide. Americans, in fact, seem to have little opinion of some of the most often-named short-listers. That will change very quickly for whoever is ultimately the GOP's nominee for vice president. Romney told NBC's Chuck Todd in an interview on Thursday that he would not discuss his choice, but that he expected “to have a person that has a strength of character, a vision for the country that adds something to the political discourse about the direction of the country.”   A CNN/Opinion Research Corp.

Charismatic and boyish, Marco Antonio Rubio would be more than the first Latino ever chosen for a major-party ticket.  At 41, he would also be the youngest running mate in six decades.  Not since Dwight D. Eisenhoweradded 40-year-old Richard Nixon to the 1952 Republican ticket has a younger person been proposed as a vice-presidential nominee by either major party. Rubio's youthful energy would be an asset to Romney, along with his potential appeal to Latino voters, the largest minority group in the country and a voting bloc that Republicans have struggled to attract.  But the selection of Rubio would also be a play by Romney to the GOP's conservative base.

It can be a little tough for people from blue states to understand the refusal by conservatives to tax those who can best afford to pay, but Sen. Marco Rubio's self-aggrandizing Olympic Tax Elimination Act seems to explain the basis for the philosophy. To wit: Special people are special. So they deserve special treatment from Uncle Sam. The Florida Republican's recently introduced bill would protect the honorariums received by Olympic athletes from taxation. It was news to me that Olympic athletes got paid at all, but apparently winners get cash payments of $25,000 for a gold medal, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze.

WASHINGTON -- Jeb Bush has weighed in on the debate over Mitt Romney's running mate, urging the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to choose Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. The former Florida governor and longtime supporter of Rubio told the Associated Press that he personally lobbied on Rubio's behalf in a recent conversation with Romney. Bush said Romney did not indicate who he would choose. Rubio, a freshman senator who was elected in 2010, is a rising star in the Republican Party.

TYLER, Texas - Disillusioned with the regular cast of Lone Star State conservatives, a tea party crowd of about 400 gathered at Lakeview Church of the Nazarene and paid rapt attention to the man campaigning to be their next senator. "Do the grass roots matter? This race is a test," Rafael "Ted" Cruz told the applauding crowd as he prepared for a July 31 runoff against fellow Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. "The Republican establishment has circled their wagons around David Dewhurst.

WASHINGTON - Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the rising GOP star who is trying to push his party toward the middle on immigration, demonstrated the hard truth about the middle ground. It's uncomfortable. In an interview on NBC's “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Rubio sought to convey the need for compromise on the hot-button issue, but in the end fell short of asserting a clear position. Asked about the Arizona law that allows local officials to check citizenship status, Rubio seemed sympathetic to the plight of a state dealing with a border security issues.

WASHINGTON -- Marco Rubio, the GOP's most prominent Latino officeholder, defended Mitt Romney's approach to immigration as one of a “mature and serious political leader,” saying the principles he has outlined are in line with the majority of Americans. The Florida senator, speaking with reporters at a breakfast gathering hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, also condemned the Obama administration for its week-old order halting deportation of young illegal immigrants, saying the president “injected election-year politics into an issue that privately I thought we were making progress on.” Rubio, who had been working on developing his own version of the Dream Act in the Senate, questioned why the administration has never reached out to him. “If you're really serious about finding a solution to these problems, don't you work with people who are interested in this?