Rubio for president!

But the same arguments for why Obama was right to take the plunge in 2008 could be made for why Rubio should run in 2012. Obama won for a variety of reasons, including that he had not been in the U.S. Senate long enough to have acquired the out-of-touch mentality that comes with serving in the most exclusive private club in America. Additionally, he did not have a long paper trail of controversial votes that might be used against him (and his tenure in the Illinois Senate did not harm him to the degree it might have because the rules allowed him to skip controversial stands by voting “present.”) Obama was also a fresh face who lacked the historical baggage that other Democratic candidates — Hillary Clinton, for example — had to carry. Being a blank slate allowed voters to believe in his hope and change message. And because he was not part of the past, he was able to transcend some of the old arguments and alliances that dogged candidates like Clinton, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, and even John Edwards.

Similarly, Rubio would start off as a fresh face whom almost every conservative in America would already be invested in, to one degree or another. Conversely, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, and Mike Huckabee, to mention a few of the high-profile potential candidates, have scars from 2008 that won’t fully heal in the next two years. Some past supporters may feel let down by them, and former enemies may still hold grudges. Romney, the presumptive front-runner, is harmed by his support of “Romneycare” in Massachusetts. Other potential candidates, such as Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi (who also served as RNC chairman and worked as a lobbyist) have backgrounds that might label them as D.C. insiders. Rubio has no such baggage.