Rubio paying the price for presidential campaign?

Senator Marco Rubio was attacked last night in the GOP debate by none other than Donald Trump on his lack of attendance when it comes to voting in the senate. This was an obvious comeback response when Rubio challenged Trump's knowledge of foreign policy (as did many of the other candidates standing at their podiums). However there was some truth in what Trump had said, as Senator Rubio has the largest absentee rate of any of the Senators running for president in either party. Rubio has missed almost 30% of votes in the senate, but why? It is certainly easy to point to the fact that much of his absence came after he decided to campaign for president, so it's also easy to say that his presidential campaign is the reason he has become a less dedicated Senator.

The biggest question to ask is, what kind of price will Rubio pay for ditching some of his duties as Senator in order to make a bigger splash as a candidate. When Rubio responded to Trump's claim last night, he blamed the "political establishment" as the reason why, essentially claiming that the federal government in Washington isn't what it should be, and thus he is campaigning on a platform of trying to fix that, among other things. For those who are following the election closely, this may garner him votes in his home state as senator if he does not receive the nomination, but what about those who aren't following the election as closely? His constituents in Florida may see his lack of presence in the Senate as a bad thing, and he may lose votes because they may be angry that he was too busy seeking the presidency when he could have been casting votes and helping his constituents like every Senator promises to do. 

It is interesting to look at some of the things he stated last night in the debate however, as they are highly relatable to his stance as a Senator. Moderator Jake Tapper asked Rubio a question on whether or not he was a climate change skeptic. Rubio is a member of the Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard committee as a Senator, and claimed that he was not a climate change skeptic, but rather that he was skeptical of the policies that the Obama administration wanted to put in place to help the climate change cause. This could easily be seen as both a presidential campaign hoorah, and also just as a Senatorial position that he has. It's interesting to note that he claimed the Obama administration's policies regarding climate change would destroy the nation's economy, which was a stark conservative statement. However, Rubio claimed that he was not skeptical, which may have been insinuating that he does believe that climate change is real, which is a more moderate approach than some other members of the Republican party, and even than some of his competition in the presidential race.

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/marco-rubio-uses-dc-bashing-to-explain-missed-votes/2245927

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/sep/17/donald-trump/trump-says-marco-rubio-has-worst-voting-record-the/

http://media.cq.com/members/32335?rc=1

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/gop-debate-climate-change_55fa2b85e4b0fde8b0ccf742