Marco Rubio's "Emergency Landing" and The Second Malfunctioning Aircraft

Marco Rubio at a campaign event in Las Vegas, NV,
prior to "emergency landing"

It's been an interesting weekend for Florida GOP senator and VP consideration Marco Rubio. As was reported largely by TV networks, Rubio's private plane, on a flight from Las Vegas to Des Moines, had to make an emergency landing in New Mexico. The CBS/Miami story offers the most succinct, factually based account of the incident.

The publicly stated cause for the unscheduled stop was an indication of an electrical failure on the aircraft. What's curious about the story was that Rubio had changed aircraft earlier that day. The plane Rubio, his wife, and others originally intended to fly was also grounded due to mechanical issues.

Rubio did display some gallows humor in his Tweet about the incident, stating "Now I know how to take a hint!"

What are the odds that two private aircraft will develop mechanical issues on the same day?

This event occurred while presumptive GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney was out of the country.

Univision, Senator Marco Rubio, and Alleged Media Muscle

Media outlets have their ways of trying to get what they want. Generally, if there is any reporting of episodes involving media muscle, it's subdued. So, when an exception to the media's "look no evil, speak no evil, see no evil" approach to its peers' actions, it's a noteworthy event.

Senator Marco Rubio

That's what makes today's Miami Herald's story about Univision's  dance with US Senator Marco Rubio so fascinating. The newspaper's report carefully noted how a Univision news executive contacted Rubio's office with a deal he might not want to refuse. The Herald article alleges that, in exchange for a personal appearance by Rubio on a Univision national program, an unflattering story about a Rubio relative would "be softened or might not run at all."

Now, it's possible that interests opposed to Univision, or aligned with Rubio, provided useful details about this story. It's also entirely conceivable that the Herald published the article with good journalism as its sole rationale. What's much more interesting is Univision's motivation.

The Univision ploy, if the facts, inferential details, and likely conclusions hold water, is a vivid demonstration of a major media firm attempting to coerce an elected federal official for corporate gain. We've seen this scenario over the years in the business of celebrity journalism, in which extortion, blackmail, and other unsavory tactics are among the media's darker arts. Of course, politics is no stranger to these schemes. For the layperson, the Herald's story opens a fascinating window into how things really happen from the inside out.

Marco Rubio's New Chief of Staff

Marco Rubio, the conservative Republican from Florida who won a U.S. Senate seat in the recent mid-term elections, named Cesar Conda as his chief of staff. The story comes from the Weekly Standard and was reprinted in today's Washington Post.

The appointment matters. Rubio is a young, Sun Belt face of the right wing. He is articulate and telegenic. He piggybacked on the Tea Party surge to help win a tight election. Conda, shown in the photograph, offers a strong clue about Rubio's intentions. According to the Weekly Standard story, Conda was Dick Cheney's right hand (no pun intended) for domestic affairs during the first two years of the Bush-Cheney regime. "In that capacity," the story noted, "(Conda played a critical behind-the-scenes role in conceiving the Bush tax cuts and Bush economic policy more broadly."

One suspects that Conda -- and others -- are grooming Rubio for a larger domestic role. Rubio represents a state of great importance in presidential elections. Keep in mind that Barack Obama, who is Rubio's age peer, was a first-term U.S. senator when he ran for the presidency.