MARCO MOVING? – AT 11:06 A.M. ET:  Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, clearly one of the most attractive political figures on the scene today, has repeatedly said he's not interested in the vice presidency. 

Ah, but what a little political buzz about a guy can do.  Rubio appears to have opened the door just a little.  And a little in politics can soon turn into a wave.  From The Hill:

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) didn't fully close the door on accepting the vice presidential slot if Mitt Romney asked him.

Rubio, who has repeatedly denied any interest in the slot, said that he wanted to "respect the process" Romney has put in place to make a selection and would no longer address it.

"I'm not going to even discuss the process anymore. I'm going to be respectful of the process he's put in place," said Rubio on CNN'S "State of the Union" on Sunday morning.

Translated into basic English:  If Marco gets the call, hey, he's got to respect the process, and the candidate, and the country, and public service, and...you get the picture.  It may be Romney-Rubio.

When host Candy Crowley said Rubio must know that will trigger speculation that he's open to accepting the slot after all, Rubio disagreed but didn't push hard against her comments.

"No, I think it's fair. I think the fairness in it is he has a real process in place... the last thing he needs is those of us in the peanut gallery to be saying what we would or would not do," he said.

"What I would characterize it is I'm not going to discuss it anymore because now there's a real process in place... he has a process and we should respect that process," he said with a smile.

COMMENT:  Romney's schedule shows that he will soon be campaigning with Rubio.  I guess it's a tryout.  Paul Ryan got the tryout a few weeks ago.  And Romney was in Ohio with Senator Rob Portman, another guy on the short v.p. list.

Rubio would bring much to the ticket, including a winning manner and a background as a Cuban-American.  He is very conservative, which will give him credibility with the right even as he proposes, as he is doing, a Republican version of the Dream Act, which will deal with the issue of illegal immigration.

Some will say that Rubio isn't "ready."  But who can say that?  The Obama team?  Obama has been president for three and a half years, and he still isn't ready.

April 22, 2012