Rubio - Mayhew Analysis

Today’s blog is going to be discussing how Senator Marco Rubio has exemplified David Mayhew’s theories and concepts shown in his book “Congress: The Electoral Connection”. David Mayhew, shown below, is a renowned political scientist who is known for his work on the United States Congress. It is clear that Mayhew’s main message is that “members of congress are single-minded seekers of reelection.” Meaning that members of congress have only one goal in mind: getting reelected. As a professor at Yale, David Mayhew has hypothesized that Congressmen work for this reelection through three main modes: position taking, credit claiming, and advertising. In this blog post, we will be examining each and see which Senator Rubio has used most in his current bid at reelection!

Position Taking

Position taking is described as taking a stand on a specific issue. This is a relatively ambiguous term, as the person who is taking the position can largely choose just how important it is. An example of this would be someone taking a position such as supporting the troops. I have found that this is what Rubio has engaged in most. I hypothesize that he does this because it is one of the easiest, yet most powerful things he can do. By taking a position, all he has to do is send out a tweet or talk to the media. There is no legislation involved, and if he so chooses, he can change back his position in the future. A recent example of position taking can be seen at the recent CPAC convention where he spoke out on his stance on Ukraine and Covid-19 issues.

Because Senator Rubio is very active on social media, especially Twitter (15k+ tweets!!!), it was very easy to find plenty of examples of his position taking over the last month. Most of these came in the form of national issues, such as the current crisis in Ukraine, Covid-19, immigration, and about anything to do with China.

Credit Claiming

Credit claiming is exactly what it sounds like, when a member of congress takes credit for something. In most cases, this is stopping, cosponsoring, or passing a bill. While Rubio has used this technique frequently, he has not used it nearly as much as he has position taking. Most of his credit claiming came in the form of creating or stopping a bill.

Through his twitter, I was able to find examples in which he used credit claiming to show his district how active he is in his role. I found an especially great example through the first tweet showing his “rankings” in effectiveness.

Advertising

Unlike the previous two methods, advertising is void of any substance. Examples include simple name recognition, emailing, and association through positions. Rubio did not use this form very much at all. I had to do a lot of digging just to find a potential scenario in which he was not endorsing his current name through his past accomplishments. 

Electoral Connection

The end goal of these methods is to better connect with constituents to have a shot at being reelected. In Senator Rubio's case, his goal is to better connect with the Floridians that vote for his reelection. After analyzing Rubio's current usage of Mayhew's three main components, I believe that he has gotten the formula down. 

In my eyes, I believe that the most important method is position taking. It lets the people know what is going on, how you feel about the subject, and what they can expect in the long run. By using position taking, Rubio has better connected with his constituents and made his positions very clear. This was his most used category and for good reason.

Furthermore, I thought he has done a good job with credit claiming. He has shown his motivations and how well they have actually came to fruition. What he could do a better job of is getting the bills/accomplishments he is claiming into more of a spotlight. If I did not have social media it would be very difficult finding out what exactly he has been a part of. 

As for advertising, Rubio has done about as much as he needs to at this point. Because advertising is largely done to help boost name recognition, Rubio has no reason to use it. He has already been on some of the biggest stages in politics and is the incumbent of one of the largest states in the US.