PORTRAIT OF A TEPID TEA PARTIER

摘要

Marco rubio has become a darling of the tea-party set. With their help he has transformed his insurgent campaign, which once seemed like a fool's errand, into a serious conservative challenge to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. New York Times columnist David Brooks, in a column arguing that the tea-party movement is "amateurish" but potentially a "major force," recently hailed Rubio as a leading contender "to become its de facto leader." The New York Times Magazine featured Rubio on its cover with a question: the firstsenator from the tea party? And tea-party favorites like Sen. Jim DeMint and former House majority leader Dick Armey have endorsed Rubio's populist candidacy.