U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey got on a last-minute, late afternoon conference call Wednesday and made like his Pennsylvania colleague, Sen. Bob Casey.
Mr. Toomey endorsed one of his party’s young, up-and-coming, first-term senators for president.
“I just wanted to announce that I am enthusiastically endorsing Marco Rubio for president of the United States,” Mr. Toomey said in a conference call with reporters.
Sen. Pat Toomey
Eight years ago, just before first-term Democratic rising-star Illinois U.S. Sen. Barack Obama embarked on a statewide bus tour, Mr. Casey endorsed him at a rally in Pittsburgh.
The circumstances were different because Mr. Obama was locked in a tight two-person race with New York U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Mr. Rubio has more opponents, but we still have a veteran politician backing a face relatively fresh to the national scene.
Rubio obviously has more prior state legislative experience than Mr. Obama did when Mr. Obama ran for president.
Mr. Toomey said he called Mr. Rubio and told him last week he would “help him in any way I can.”
“I think he’s going to be a great president. He’s certainly a great candidate. I have seen how he has understood and played a leadership role in defining what America’s role needs to be in keeping us safe from the many threats we face around the world,” Mr. Toomey said. “He’s got a very uplifting and optimistic (message), and contagiously optimistic ability to communicate with people and to unite not just the Republican Party but people generally. So I’m delighted to be part of his team and I’m looking forward to his victory.”
Mr. Toomey said the decision to announce the endorsement this week had nothing to do with waiting to see the results Monday of the caucuses in Iowa, where Mr. Rubio finished a strong third behind billionaire Donald J. Trump and Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
He said the Rubio campaign team was busy with preparations for the caucuses. A “gracious and delighted” Mr. Rubio suggested waiting until after the caucuses, he said.
“So that’s all, it just worked out better logistically for everybody,” Mr. Toomey said.
He thinks Mr. Rubio “has very broad appeal” and “will do very well in a state like Pennsylvania and lots of other states.”
“I think the contrast between Marco Rubio and Hillary Clinton is tremendous, especially on national security matters,” Mr. Rubio said. “Let’s face it, she was the secretary of state during the worst period, the most failed period of American foreign policy in recent memory. So Marco’s leadership has been very strong and very different. I think he’s likely to do quite well.”
Asked why he thinks Mr. Rubio will do well in Pennsylvania, Mr. Toomey spoke again of his “very broad appeal.”
“He’s got a very compelling life story. The fact that he’s fluent in Spanish doesn’t hurt at all. The fact that he can communicate as well as any Republican I’ve ever met, the fact that he’s got an optimistic upbeat message about what America can become once again, the fact that he understands our security threat very, very well, in great detail, at a very sophisticated level, I think that’s going to be reassuring to people who are really concerned about how the next president is going to keep us safe. I think all of those things contribute to Marco’s ability to be a very strong candidate in Pennsylvania,” he said.
Mr. Toomey said Mr. Rubio was on the executive committee of the Senate steering committee when he chaired the committee. The committee helps develop the Senate’s agenda.
“I found his insights and leadership on intelligence matters and national security very, very helpful. He’s on the committees that focus on those issues. And, as you know, my committees are different it’s been very, very helpful for me on a number of occasions to discuss some of these matters with him,” Mr. Toomey said. “So we’ve been able to develop a very cooperative and constructive working
relationship since we were both elected together in 2010.”
He dismissed concerns about Mr. Rubio missing many Senate votes to campaign for president.
“Yeah, I think that every senator who’s ever run for president has, at some point in the process, had a poor attendance record. You know when a person decides they’re going to commit to running for president of the United States, that becomes an all-consuming exercise.” Mr. Toomey said. “To his credit, Marco’s not attempting to hold a Senate seat as an insurance policy and he has been in attendance for really important votes. But you know, a lot of time we have procedural votes and votes where the outcome is already clear. I think Marco’s top priority right now is to be elected the next president of the United States and that’s entirely appropriate.”
Mr. Toomey said he’s unsure if Pennsylvania’s late April 26 primary will matter much in the presidential race, but said “it’s entirely possible.”
Mr. Toomey, who faces a tough re-election fight himself this year, deflected a question on whether he feared having Mr. Cruz as the nominee might hurt his chances at another term.
“I know there’s a lot of speculation about that. I think the reality is nobody knows how a particular presidential nominee is going to affect down-ballot races. It’s very, very hard to know that, even when you’re quite close to the election often,” Mr. Toomey said. “And it’s certainly almost impossible to know that now. So everything wasn’t a calculus for me. For me, this is about who will be a great president and who’s got a very good chance of winning the presidency. That’s important to me as well. I think Marco comes to the top of the list for me in both categories.”
He declined to directly comment on his relationship with Mr. Cruz, who, as one reporter pointed out, is among the Senate’s most disliked senators.
“I get along with all of my colleagues,” Mr. Toomey said. “I try to work with people who are willing to work with me. I don’t think that we should let personalities get in the way of progress. I’m not making this endorsement as a criticism of anyone else. I’m making this endorsement because I think Marco Rubio will be a great president and is a great candidate for president.”
— BORYS KRAWCZENIUK