Marco Rubio Is Favored to Win GOP Nomination, According to Political Strategist

With the midterm election dust settling and political donors and insiders getting ready to do it all all over again in a couple of years, Marco Rubio has decided to go all-in without actually making any kind of announcement of a 2016 run at the White House by releasing a book this coming January.

With Jeb Bush getting open endorsements to run in 2016 from former presidents and family members George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, it's now Rubio's turn to get his name into the media cycle.

According to Amazon.com, Rubio's "American Dreams: Restoring Economic Opportunity for Everyone" will be available for purchase January 13.

See also: Jeb Bush Is Probably Most Likely Going to Run for President, Maybe

And, as expected, he's going all-in on the talking points that will set him up for a run.

"I wrote this book because we stand at a critical juncture," Rubio writes in the book blurb. "What kind of country are we going to be? Will we surrender to Obamacare and other laws that crush innovation and entrepreneurship? Will we accept a powerful nanny state and the erosion of family values? Will we allow politics to kill the American Dream? Or will we rise to the challenge -- and take back our legacy as the only nation on earth that offers unrestricted opportunity to all?"

via Amazon.com

Rubio, who had fallen out of GOP favor with his handling on immigration reform, has been all about his roots lately. Talking about your parents, where you came from, and the values instilled in you along the way is a popular trope among pols who want to run for the big offices.

And already, things seem to be paying off for Rubio.

Even with Jeb's name being bandied about by his brother and father, at least one political analyst is already declaring Rubio the frontrunner to win the GOP nomination.

Greg Valliere, head strategist of the research firm Potomac Research Group, says Rubio is already reaping the benefits if a 2014 midterm election that brought the house down for the Republicans.

Valliere handicapped Republicans and ranked them in terms of who will be the Guy for the GOP in 2016, and Rubio came out on top.

"He flew beneath the radar screen this fall, but actually Rubio campaigned aggressively for GOP candidates," Valliere wrote in his rankings. "He has a head start on putting together a campaign organization, and has shown increasing gravitas on key issues; he's the anti-Rand Paul on geopolitics."

Still, it should be noted that Valliere has Jeb as a close second place behind Rubio -- although he says the former Florida governor is a bit overrated.

"He's is the clear pick inside the Beltway, but we think Jeb is over-rated," Valliere writes. "He hasn't been in the trenches for nearly a decade, and he's rusty. More importantly, the GOP base dislikes his stances on immigration, the Common Core education policy and taxes. He's bright and likable and has a plausible path to 270 electoral votes, but winning the nomination may be more difficult than he thinks."

For whatever it's worth, Rubio and Bush have swapped their rankings, with Rubio moving into first and Jeb moving to second.

Either way, it would appear that the Republican nominee is likely going to come from Florida.

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