Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s (R) Senate voting record became part of the debate Wednesday night, with Candidate Jeb Bush (R), attacking that record. Bush told Rubio , “Marco, when you signed up for this, this was a six-year term, and you should be showing up for work”. Then on Thursday Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) had very tough words for Rubio, saying in an interview with NBC News that Rubio has “abandoned the Senate”, and that he should resign amid reports that Rubio told a friend he “hates” the Senate.
“I think he abandoned the Senate and the state of Florida deserves two senators, not one senator. It’s not a question of missing the votes”, but after Rubio apparently compared himself to Senators Bob Dole, John McCain, John Kerry and Barack Obama, Reid added “that took a lot of gall, a lot of chutzpah”. Rubio responded to this criticism by pointing to Obama’s voting record while he ran for president. Obama missed 96 of 318 votes while running for President.Since announcing his run for Senate, Rubio has missed 74 of 156 votes, or about 47% of all Senate votes. The senator has defended his recent voting record by stating that because he is not running for re-election its ok, and that his constituents are better served with him as president; “That’s why I’m missing votes, because I am leaving the Senate, I am not running for reelection.” This statement by Rubio has caused several to call for Rubio to resign from the Senate.
During the debate on Wednesday where Bush challenged his voting record, Rubio countered, “I don’t remember you ever complaining about John McCain’s vote record [McCain missed 59% of the Senate votes]. The only reason why you’re doing it now is because we’re running for the same position, and someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you.”
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Several other senators currently running for president have missed votes as well. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has missed 52 votes; Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) missed 65. Sen Rand Paul (R-KY) has missed the fewest, at only 12 of the 156 votes cast by the Senate.