So that’s why Rubio endorsed Romney

**Posted by Phineas

More fallout from Obama’s “Open-Mic Moment” in Korea with Russian President Medvedev:

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller, Sen. Rubio revealed that President Obama’s recent “open mic” gaffe with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sparked his endorsement of Mitt Romney for president Wednesday night.

“It’s been weighing on my mind all week,” he said.

“I’ve never thought about this as a political calculation,” Rubio said of his endorsement. “I’m just sitting back here and watching a president that just got back from overseas — where he told the Russian president to work with him and give him space so he can be more flexible if he gets re-elected.”

“The stakes are so high. We’re not running against John F. Kennedy here,” he said.

“We have to win this election in November. We have to!” he averred. “If we don’t win this election in November — and we get four more years of Barack Obama — I don’t know what that means … But I know it ain’t good.”

Not that Marco Rubio’s endorsement will mean that much in the long run; personally, I’m skeptical of the value of endorsements. But gaffes, like elections, do have consequences. In the last week, we’ve seen more and more conservatives endorsing Romney, even if halfheartedly, as Rubio does in this interview. I’ve no proof of this, but I have to wonder if other prominent Republicans saw that tape of a supplicant Obama begging for “space” and promising to be “more flexible” after his reelection, and had their jaws hit the floor. Obama may well have helped create unity in a contentious, often bitter Republican primary.

Like the Senator from Florida said, “We have to win this election in November. We have to!”

(Crossposted at Public Secrets)