Fearless. That’s the word to describe what you saw if you had a chance to watch Senator Marco Rubio deliver a major national security speech this week. Fearless in the national-security policy he supports, fearless of the political hurdles that may accompany his “peace through strength” agenda, and fearless for speaking at length (over forty minutes) on defense policy initiatives that are often left to wonks and analysts to discuss.
First, to the policy proposals. Senator Rubio signed up to many of the recommendations of the recently released National Defense Panel (NDP). Understanding that defense policy is hollow without resources, Rubio’s first recommendation advocates for a dramatic increase in defense budgets. There was no hint of concern that funding defense would compromise his status as a fiscal hawk. In what seemed like an attempt to reassure the tea-party faithful, the Senator reminded the audience that, “Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution assigns 17 separate duties to Congress. Six deal exclusively with the national defense — more than any other area.”
Like other defense hawks in the party, he emphasized the need to rebuild the military via modernizing the Air Force and building more ships for the Navy. Less common was the senator’s emphasis on the need to reverse the cuts to the size of the Army and Marine Corps. Jettisoning the current administration’s defense-policy guidance, Senator Rubio argued that end strength reductions “have risen from the dangerous illusion that America will never again have significant ground forces in combat.” “But as we’ve learned in Iraq,,” he pointed out, ”declaring wars over does not end them.” This is decidedly not the lesson President Obama, or for that matter, Senator Rand Paul, learned from Iraq. Rubio made clear that strength is a precondition for peace – not a driver of foreign entanglement. Citing President Reagan, Rubio said “a truly successful army is one that, because of its strength and ability and dedication, will not be called upon to fight, for no one will dare to provoke it.”
In fact, few areas of defense policy were left untouched: cyber, space, military benefits, nuclear modernization, and intelligence were all covered in the speech. And Senator Rubio made no apology for why such a buildup is necessary. At its core, Senator Rubio explained in very direct terms that America cannot shrink from its role as a global leader.
Which leads to the second reason why Senator Rubio’s speech was fearless: Politics seemed to take a back seat to policy. This was not your typical canned speech on national security from a presidential hopeful. The policies the senator put forward were dramatic and specific. They haven’t been poll-tested and his language didn’t seem to be vetted by a stable of political consultants. In other words, you heard from a politician who freely expressed what he believed. The result was a passionate defense of American strength that spoke clearly and directly to issues of military force, modernization, and innovation.
The clear take away from all this is that Senator Rubio has thought deeply about the role of commander-in-chief and that responsibility appears to be a major driving force behind his expected presidential run. This of course is in stark contrast to President Obama, whose presidential agenda focused almost exclusively on domestic policy. And Senator Rubio didn’t pull any punches when it came to critiquing the current occupant of the White House, saying that “the ‘don’t do stupid stuff’ approach has proven self-contradictory.”
Given events in Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine, the timing of this speech was certainly propitious for someone inclined to advance policies promoting American strength. Still, it remains to be seen whether national security will figure prominently in the presidential election. Listening to Senator Rubio, however, one got the impression that he didn’t have Electoral College votes on his mind when delivering his remarks. In fact, he called out Congress and the White House for demonstrating that they “would rather wait for poll numbers to change than demonstrate the leadership necessary to shape them.” In other words, Rubio wants a Situation Room free of politics: a bold idea and an approach that will make political consultants cringe.
That’s fearless and refreshing.
— Roger I. Zakheim is a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He was deputy staff director and general counsel on the House Armed Services Committee from 2011 to 2013. You can follow him on twitter @Rogerreuv.