A Republican John Edwards

Adam Smith: “The promise of Rubio never lived up to the reality. In no state did he build an especially strong campaign. He was a good, not great, fundraiser. He generally played it safe — trying hard not to antagonize any particular wing of the GOP while also failing to inspire great passion in any wing. It took great instincts and more guts than many people realize to jump in the race after Jeb Bush signaled he would run, but we rarely saw those guts and instincts from Rubio after he announced. I’m not sure Rubio has shown he’s much more than a Republican John Edwards — a telegenic guy with one great speech and family story but not much else.”