Jun 21, 2012 No Comments ›› Pat Dollard
If you ask me, this means it ain’t happenin’ for Rubio. Everybody’s going to be there, from the GOP’s top business leaders to RNC Chairman Reince Preibus. Highly unlikely that a serious candidate for future member of the Romney innermost circle would miss such an important event, especially when nothing more than the standard, lame “scheduling conflicts” is Rubio’s only excuse.
Excerpted from The Daily Caller: Presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney is holding an exclusive summer retreat this weekend that will include appearances by those most frequently mentioned as potential vice presidential choices, according to an invitation obtained by The Daily Caller.
But there’s one potential running mate noticeably absent from the event: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
Special guests, according to the invitation, include Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan and South Dakota Sen. John Thune. All have been mentioned as possible running mates.
Rubio is on a book tour, but his exclusion from this event comes after reports on Tuesday that Romney’s campaign is not vetting him to be a running mate. Following those reports and shock from Rubio’s supporters, Romney made a rare statement on the topic to say that Rubio is actually under consideration to be vice president.
Rubio spokesman Alex Conant told TheDC on Thursday that Rubio was invited to the retreat, but is unable to attend because of scheduling conflicts.
