From Agence France-Presse
US Senator Marco Rubio launched his presidential campaign Monday at a rally in Miami, calling for a new era of American leadership that is not “stuck in the 20th century.”
The conservative 43-year-old first-term lawmaker, son of poor immigrants from Cuba, presented the 2016 presidential election as “a generational choice” — a clear jab at his more senior rivals, notably the newly-announced Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and his fellow Republican and potential adversary Jeb Bush.
“I have heard some suggest that I should step aside and wait my turn. But I cannot, because I believe our very identity as an exceptional nation is at stake, and I can make a difference as president.”
While not mentioning former secretary of state Clinton by name, Rubio made clear he was targeting her as one of the politicians of the past.
A rising star in the Republican party, Rubio is a rare package for US conservatives.
He is English-Spanish bilingual, hawkish on foreign policy, and supported an immigration reform bill that would have legalized millions of undocumented migrants.
Rubio hopes to connect with the young, Hispanic and African-American voters that Republicans have struggled to reach in previous elections.
He joins two other Republicans who have already declared their candidacy: Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Libertarian-leaning Rand Paul from Kentucky.
Playing to his “American Dream” family narrative, Rubio held the launch event at Miami’s Freedom Tower, a landmark known as the entry point for processing Cuban refugees coming to the United States.
Rubio is the son of a bartender and a housemaid from Cuba who moved to Miami in 1959 to escape poverty.
Now a junior senator from Florida, he grew up in Miami’s Cuban-American community, and in Las Vegas.
© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse
