Obama-Rubio duel to end in Senate showdown

By Glenn Thrush

From Politico

The Obama administration’s months-long chess match with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) over a controversial Puerto Rican-born diplomatic nominee will likely come to end tomorrow with a cliffhanger vote on the Senate floor – one packed with all kinds of political intrigue.

Mari Carmen Aponte, Obama’s pick to be ambassador to El Salvador, has languished in limbo since December after Rubio’s promise to deliver four Republicans to block cloture on her candidacy fell short, due to the stroke suffered by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.).

It’s a convoluted tale I wrote about in detail in February, but the gist is this: Rubio is wedged between the competing demands of his pal Jim DeMint (R-SC) — who opposes Aponte (over a relationship she had with a Cuban spy years back) — and Florida’s huge Puerto Rican Community, clustered in the Orlando area, who views Aponte’s nomination with pride.

Obama and his aides love it: Will Rubio side with the tea party or Hispanics in his home state? Rubio says it’s stupid, ugly wedge politics.

This small battle has big national implications, even if Rubio isn’t his party’s nominee. Mitt Romney’s Sunshine State strategy revolves around courting the Puerto Rican and Cuban communities, to offset his deep unpopularity with other Latino groups.

Not for nothing is Harry Reid scheduling the Aponte vote just before Obama’s trip to the Orlando area — and daring both Rubio and Romney to let the nomination fail, incurring (presumably) the wrath of Puerto Ricans who enjoy a right — voting — they don’t have back home.

It’s not clear how this will all turn out. Rubio has said publicly that it’s not his job to whip for new Republican votes, and Democrats and their allies mock him for first opposing, then backing Aponte late last year. A snarky Congressional Hispanic Caucus letter to the Cuban-born Rubio, obtained by POLITICO, rubs it in: “We applaud your decision to support Ms. Aponte and urge you to secure the necessary votes to confirm this highly qualified Latina.”

Rubio’s spokesman Alex Conant, says Democrats are playing politics.

“When this issue came up last year, Sen. Rubio was opposing several western hemisphere nominations because of concerns with the Administration’s policies in the hemisphere, especially in Nicaragua,” Conant wrote in an email. “We worked behind the scenes with the Administration and reached an agreement on Nicaragua, so the Senator agreed to vote for cloture on Aponte and find enough Republican votes (6) for her to pass. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats did not schedule a vote before adjourning and her appointment lapsed. Nevertheless, Aponte subsequently thanked Senator Rubio for his work trying to secure her confirmation (as Politico reported).

“Unfortunately, one of the Republican members who was going to vote for Aponte in December is not here now (Kirk).”