With a Senate Primary Victory, Rubio's Political Recovery Begins

The low point for Marco Rubio came on March 15 when he was trounced in the Republican presidential primary in Florida, his home state, by Donald Trump, 46 to 27 percent. At that point, it appeared Rubio would finish his Senate career at the end of the year and leave politics behind.

The opposite has happened. In fewer than six months, Rubio, 45, has pulled off a remarkable political recovery. It wasn't what he had intended to pursue. But politics sometimes works in unexpected ways. On Tuesday, Rubio won the GOP nomination for a second Senate term, defeating Carlos Beruff, 72 to 19 percent.

He still has a big step to go, and it's not an easy one. His Democratic opponent in the Senate race, Congressman Patrick Murphy, won his party's nomination even more impressively than Rubio won his. For Rubio, Beruff was a pushover. Murphy had a stronger primary foe, Congressman Alan Grayson, whom he crushed, 59 to 18 percent.

The Rubio-Murphy contest looks like a tossup. But Rubio has clear advantages. He has campaigned statewide in a general election and won, beating ex-governor Charlie Crist for the Senate in 2010. And he is a better speaker, more fluent on major issues, and a stronger presence than Murphy.

While Murphy, 33, beat Grayson handily, the primary brought to light a negative side. A Miami TV station reported his resume was exaggerated: it turns out he's not a certified accountant, at least not in Florida. And his claim that a company he founded had participated in the cleanup after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was untrue.