Marco Rubio: Mormon!

Thursday, 23rd February 2012

It's still too soon for Veepstakes - that game is supposed to be played in July - and, anyway, there isn't a nominee yet. Still, Buzzfeed's scoop that Marco Rubio was a baptised Mormon (and thus is likely still counted, at least by the church, as a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints) is a proper new fact. It's also a story that makes Rubio seem more, not less, interesting:

In the compelling personal narrative that has helped propel Florida Senator Marco Rubio to national political stardom, one chapter has gone completely untold: Rubio spent his childhood as a faithful Mormon.

Rubio was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with his family at around the age of eight, and remained active in the faith for a number of years during his early youth, family members told BuzzFeed.

Rubio spokesman Alex Conant confirmed the story to BuzzFeed. Conant said Rubio returned to the Catholic church a few years later with his family, receiving his first communion on Christmas day in 1984 at the age of 13.

The revelation adds a new dimension to Rubio's already-nuanced religious history—and could complicate his political future at a time when many Republicans see him as the odds-on favorite for the 2012 vice presidential nod. Vice presidential candidates are traditionally chosen to provide ethnic and religious balance to a ticket. Mitt Romney's Mormonism and Rubio's Catholic faith would already mean the first two members of minority traditions on a Republican ticket in American history. Rubio's Mormon roots could further complicate that calculation.

I don't think it necessarily "harm" Rubio's prospects but it could, conceivably, complicate them. More importantly, it's a reminder that Veeps who have already been vetted are safer than those who have not

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