Not since Justin Bieber’s biopic, “Never Say Never” has an autobiography been so premature. But first-term Sen. Marco Rubio isn’t letting lack of material keep him from writing a full-length, in-depth look back at his life: all 41 short years of it.
Rubio’s main accomplishment so far has been being born at the right time with genes for attractiveness steeped in his parents’ ideology as Cuban emigrant, right-wing anti-Communists.
The book, reportedly titled, “An American Son,” will acknowledge Rubio’s personal story line deficit of triumph over adversity by drawing heavily on his parents’ lives. That includes their decision to leave Cuba after the Vegas-style excesses of the Batista regime began to fade, and before Castro came to power.
It also reveals his father’s role in a plot to overthrow the Dominican Republic’s dictator, Rafael Trujillo, when the elder Rubio was 18.
But perhaps one of the most interesting tidbits to surface will be Rubio’s admission that when he was 8-years-old, his parents began practicing Mormonism.
In 1979, when Rubio was 8 years old, his family moved to Las Vegas and joined an LDS church for several years, according to [Rubio Spokesperson Alex] Conant.
He said Rubio was baptized as an infant in the Catholic church, but when they formally joined the Mormon church, Rubio was again baptized.
Dale Jones, a spokesman for the LDS church, said 8 is traditionally the earliest age when a child of that faith would be baptized.
Three years later his parents changed their minds and young Marco received First Communion in the Catholic church, where he remained through confirmation and his marriage. Today, the Rubio and his wife and kids worship at Catholic churches in Washington and Miami, although, no doubt to broaden Rubio’s base, they also attend a Baptist megachurch in Florida.
If that last part sounded cynical, consider how Rubio’s spokesperson put it.
“He had already planned on discussing his faith journey in his memoir,” Alex Conant said. “His faith journey was part of the pitch to the publishers.”
Emphasis was added there. But hold on, it gets better.
Many speculated that Rubio’s history with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints could further ingratiate him with Mitt Romney, one of America’s most prominent Mormons, and make him a viable candidate for vice president should Romney win the Republican presidential nomination.
The book, which is, understandably, still being written, is scheduled for release in October in the weeks leading up to the general election. What a perfect time for those clamoring to know more about the possible vice president to get all the details. Or at least, all the details according to the man himself. And you can take those with a grain of salt.
