Marco Rubio, absent senator running for president.
Marco Rubio, absent senator running for president.

In the days after Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011, Rubio missed Foreign Relations hearings at which policy experts testified about the way forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan. [Politico]

WHAT DO Senators Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Lindsay Graham have in common? They’re all Republicans and all three are too busy trying to get a new job to do the job they’ve already been hired to do in the Senate. It’s a tradition when a senator decides to run for president.
The irony is that Senator Marco Rubio recently took a shot at President Obama over Americans still being held by Iran, but when it came time to weigh in during a Senate vote Rubio was miles away at a fundraiser for his presidential campaign.
Rubio has skipped votes during high-profile fights over national security, trade, energy and education policy. He has missed private hearings during a critical stage in the Iran talks, a public forum on China and a private briefing on the U.S. strategy on the Islamic State. Last month, a California congressional candidate tweeted a picture with Rubio in Los Angeles on the same day the Florida senator missed a closed-door Foreign Relations Committee session on Iran and a procedural vote on the Export-Import Bank’s future, a flash point in the presidential campaign.

One analysis found that Rubio had the poorest attendance rate among senators seeking the White House. And another report published in February found that in his first four years in office, Rubio missed 99 out of 1,198 votes, amounting to an absentee rate of 8.2 percent, among the highest in the Senate. Rubio’s office said the missed votes were largely due to family commitments.

Senator McCain had a 44% voting record when he ran for president in 2008. Clinton made 77% of the votes, Obama 62%. Senator Sanders has only missed 7 votes since mid-April.
Jeb Bush is trying to make it an issue, but no one’s listening to Jeb, who’s being drowned out by Donald Trump.
When Senator Marco Rubio touts his Senate experience it’s true he got elected, but he’s not been very interested in doing the job as much as he has simply claiming the title of senator.