Since the new session started, Senator Marco Rubio has missed 22 out of the 49 votes or 45 percent.  Granted the session is less than a month old so that means the 49 votes have been over a two week period but it could still have an impact if he decides to run for president.

The recent lack of voting is uncharacteristic of the Senator since he only missed 6.8 percent of last sessions votes per GovTrack.us. On the other hand, Senator Bill Nelson (FL-D) has only missed 1.7 percent of the votes since he was elected back in 2001.

Rubio’s lack of attendance could be used against him if he decides to run because the opponents would say he was out of touch with the current issues and/or they could not decide his position on important issues since he was not there to vote. This of course only matters if they were major bills. One vote he did miss was the Keystone Pipeline XL. Republicans want to get the bill passed and his no show could come back to haunt him.

Where was Senator Rubio? For the last week he has been in California, participating in a fundraising retreat sponsored by the Koch brothers. Per Rubio’s office, he is expected to come home on Friday just in time to lead a subcommittee hearing Tuesday on President Obama’s Cuba policy. A matter he has openly criticized.

The Florida Democratic Party has already taken the opportunity to use his absence to tarnish his name. It has been reported they labeled him ‘Runaway Rubio’ and say he is not representing his constituents by missing votes.

To be fair, Marco Rubio is not the only presidential hopeful feeling the heat. New Jersey is equally criticizing Governor Christie for being MIA. In New Jersey Democrats are not happy. They claim he is constantly going out of state for political and personal reasons thereby wasting tax payer monies. The only difference is in Christie’s case he has a Lieutenant Governor who takes over his duties when he is absent whereas Senator Rubio does not have that luxury.