--- title: Marco Rubio Earns His Place in the Republican Top Tier description: The candidate proves himself with vision and patience canonical: https://time.com/4047865/with-vision-and-patience-marco-rubio-earns-his-place-in-the-republican-top-tier/ author: Joe Klein article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-24T09:42:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:57:41.491Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Marco Rubio Earns His Place in the Republican Top Tier og:description: The candidate proves himself with vision and patience og:url: https://time.com/4047865/with-vision-and-patience-marco-rubio-earns-his-place-in-the-republican-top-tier/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta90ae0e528afd4a2/69886530f887dc6b9be92884/marco-rubio.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Sen. Marco Rubio og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Marco Rubio Earns His Place in the Republican Top Tier twitter:description: The candidate proves himself with vision and patience twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta90ae0e528afd4a2/69886530f887dc6b9be92884/marco-rubio.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Marco Rubio Earns His Place in the Republican Top Tier > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: Watch the Republican Debate In Less than 3 Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): Watch the Republican Debate In Less than 3 Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FZG84mwx.m3u8) (2:44)  _Published 2015-09-17. Watch the top 11 Republican candidates face off during the second GOP debate._ by [Joe Klein](https://time.com/author/joe-klein/) ## Joe Klein Sep 24, 2015 9:42 AM UTC  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks to voters at the Heritage Action Presidential Candidate Forum in Greenville, South Carolina, Sept. 18, 2015 Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks to voters at the Heritage Action Presidential Candidate Forum in Greenville, South Carolina, Sept. 18, 2015 Sean Rayford—Getty Images by [Joe Klein](https://time.com/author/joe-klein/) ## Joe Klein Sep 24, 2015 9:42 AM UTC At the second Republican presidential debate, Donald Trump and Jeb Bush were in the midst of a testy wrangle over whether it’s appropriate for presidential candidates to speak Spanish in public. “I want to tell you a story about someone who didn’t speak English that well,” Senator Marco Rubio interrupted, slicing to the argument’s core. “It was my grandfather.” He went on to explain that his grandfather was a Cuban exile who taught him to love America. “But he taught me that in Spanish,” Rubio explained, “and he became a conservative, even though he got his news in Spanish.” Case closed. And enter Marco Rubio, stage right, into the top tier of Republican candidates. Most of the praise after the debate went to the clever, succinct Carly Fiorina and her successful put-down of Trump’s assessment of her face. But Fiorina’s performance had gaping holes in it–specifically, her riveting, untruthful description of an abortion video that did not exist. Her skirmish with Donald Trump over who had the better business record was the functional equivalent of Greece and Syria arguing about who had the stronger economy. Both are snake-oil marketers, not managers. Meanwhile, Rubio has had two excellent debates now. He tells stories, which is good. He is selling youth–he is 44, but looks younger–and optimism, which is better. The substance of some of his remarks, especially on national-security policy, is questionable, but he has emerged as a plausible President at a moment when most of his competitors are demonstrating their implausibility. We have reached a new stage of the Republican nominating process. The field is beginning to sort itself out; the sudden departure of Scott Walker was symbolic of a sea change happening within. Trump has become–dare I say it?–boring. Dr. Ben Carson’s weirdness is showing. The tortoises are consolidating their positions–Ted Cruz on the right, Bush and Ohio Governor John Kasich in the middle. And then there is Marco Rubio, who stands to the right of the moderates but manages to convey his conservatism without vitriol, and has emerged as the most polished orator of the bunch. After the debate, I spent a day on the trail with Rubio in Georgia and North Carolina. The crowds were not Trumpian in size or in any other sense–much of the audience wore business attire; there were few tattoos or heavy-metal T-shirts; there were significant numbers of young people and Latinos. His stump speech was sleek and bright: the sky was not falling. He talked more about the future than about the past. After telling his up-from-Cuba life story, he focused on three specific policy areas–the economy, higher education and national security. He talked about the emerging economy, rather than the manufacturing jobs lost: “It took the telephone 75 years to reach 100 million users. It took Candy Crush one,” he said, referring to the popular video game. He talked about Airbnb, Uber, Amazon–companies that embody the lightning pace of change. His plans to encourage that sort of entrepreneurialism were standard-issue Republican: lower taxes, fewer regulations. But his vision was more compelling than the other GOP economic pitches I’ve heard this year. It flowed naturally into the higher-education section of the speech, which was truly creative, with its emphasis on vocational-skills training and specific ideas for reforming the student-loan mess. Rubio would no doubt be horrified to learn that the only other candidate I’ve heard as passionate about technical-skills training is Hillary Clinton. Rubio has distinguished himself in the debates by sounding knowledgeable about national-security issues–but his views are, again, standard conservative fare and sometimes dead wrong: the Iranians, for example, will not be able to process plutonium under the terms of the nuclear deal. Obama, he says, “treats the Prime Minister of Israel with less respect than he does the Ayatullah of Iran,” a line that might please neoconservative billionaire Sheldon Adelson, but bears no trace of reality to the unprecedented level of support the U.S. has given Israel during Obama’s presidency. Rubio didn’t take questions–not even from his audiences–but I’d love to ask him how much time he’s spent with the Israeli military and intelligence community, which holds very different views about Israel’s security than Benjamin Netanyahu does. There is a distinct feeling among Republicans that if they can create a ticket with candidates from Florida and Ohio, they can win the election. But neither Bush nor Kasich is setting hearts aflutter yet. It remains to be seen if Rubio will become a bonfire or a campfire, but he is beginning to throw some heat. ## Transcript [ APPLAUSE ] I never attacked him on his look. And believe me, there's plenty of subject matter right there. [ LAUGH ] We don't need an apprentice in the White House. We have one right now. So 40 years ago, I smoked marijuana. But when you challenge the status quo, you make enemies. I made a few. Steve Jobs told me that when he called me the day I was fired. More energy tonight. I like that. Just because he says it doesn't make it true. I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said. [ MUSIC ] We're fighting ISIS. ISIS wants to fight Syria. Why are we fighting ISIS in Syria? Let them fight each other and pick up the remnants . >> Yes. Having met Vladimir Putin, I wouldn't talk to him at all. We've talked way too much to him. The single biggest National security threat facing America right now, is the threat of a nuclear Iran. We are stronger when we work with the western civilization, our friends in Europe, and just doing it on our own, I don't think is the right policy. I don't think we need to be rash. I don't think we need to be reckless. And I think we need to leave a lines of communication open. We need to be strong against China. How do we confront Iran? And the first thing that we need to do is to reestablish our commitment to Israel, which has been tattered by this administration. [ MUSIC ] I defunded Planned Parenthood. And I vetoed Planned Parenthood funding, now, 8 times in New Jersey. We don't want this organization to get funding, and the money oughta be reprogrammed. And for family planning in other organizations that don't support this tactic. Let's ask Hillary Clinton. She believes in the systematic murder of children in the womb, to preserve their body parts [ UNKNOWN ] in a way that maximizes their value for sale for profit. Well he's wrong on a lot of things, but on this he's wrong because I'm the most pro- life governor on this stage. I'd like to link these two issues, both of which are incredibly important. Iran and Planned Parenthood. One has something to do with the defense of the security of this nation. The other has something to do with the defense of the character of this nation. We need to take the fingerprint of every person. Who comes to this country on a visa, and when they over stay their visa we need to tap them on the shoulder and say, you have over stayed your welcome, you're taking advantage of the American people, it's time for you to go. If we don't seal the border the rest of the stuff really doesn't matter. You're proud of your family just as I am. Correct. To subject my wife into the middle of a raucous. Political conversation was completely inappropriate. And I hope you apologize for that, Donald. But to build a wall and to deport people, half a million a month, would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, Donald. This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish. [ APPLAUSE ] And the next president of the United States better be someone who understands these issues, and has good judgment about them. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4047865/with-vision-and-patience-marco-rubio-earns-his-place-in-the-republican-top-tier/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4047865/with-vision-and-patience-marco-rubio-earns-his-place-in-the-republican-top-tier/"},"headline":"Marco Rubio Earns His Place in the Republican Top Tier","datePublished":"2015-09-24T09:42:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:57:41.491Z","description":"The candidate proves himself with vision and patience","url":"https://time.com/4047865/with-vision-and-patience-marco-rubio-earns-his-place-in-the-republican-top-tier/","keywords":["Election 2016","Joe Klein","In the Arena"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta90ae0e528afd4a2/69886530f887dc6b9be92884/marco-rubio.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joe Klein","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joe-klein/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta90ae0e528afd4a2/69886530f887dc6b9be92884/marco-rubio.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sen. 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