Marco Rubio Shrugs Off 2012 Vice Prez Spot, But 2016 Still Open

File - In this Nov. 2, 2010 file photo, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio speaks after winning his Senate bid in Coral Gables, Fla. Rubio. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File) (AP2010)

Washington – While he may be honored to be mentioned as a potential vice presidential candidate on the 2012 Republican ticket, Florida Senator Marco Rubio said he would turn down the offer.

He added, however, that in four years he might be open to the idea.

"I am really committed to doing a good job in the Senate," the Florida Republican told a dozen-plus reporters Thursday. "If I do a good job in the Senate, three, four, five, six years from now, I'll have a different opportunity ... to do things inside of government and outside of government."

The Cuban-American and freshman lawmaker has frequently been mentioned as a potential running mate for likely GOP nominee Mitt Romney — and a surefire way for the Republican Party to improve its abysmal standing with Hispanic voters. A Pew Research Center survey out Tuesday showed President Barack Obama with an overwhelming advantage over Romney among Hispanic registered voters, 67-27 percent.

All the vice presidential talk may have tripped up Rubio. Earlier Thursday, he referred to himself as vice president at a forum sponsored by National Journal, saying, "If I have done a good job as vice president ..." He quickly corrected himself by replacing vice president with senator.

It was unclear whether the slip was intentional.

Hours later, as he talked to reporters about his immigration legislation, the 40-year-old Rubio said the vice presidential talk was flattering but that he expects Romney to consider other, more experienced Republicans. He mentioned Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

He also questioned all the attention on the No. 2 job.

"Presidential campaigns are won by the presidential nominee," he said. "I think you pick a vice president because the Constitution says you have to have one. Otherwise I think most of these folks would go it alone."

Amid the GOP struggle to win over Hispanic voters, Rubio is pulling together a bill that would allow young illegal immigrants to remain in the United States but deny them citizenship.

The measure, still in the works, would permit young illegal immigrants who came to the United States with their parents to apply for non-immigrant visas. They would be allowed to stay in the country to study or work and could obtain a driver's license but would not be able to vote. They later could apply for residency, but they would not have a special path to citizenship.

Romney has said illegal immigrants should return to their home country. Rubio was pressed on the contradiction between his evolving legislation and the candidate's comments.

"All I can tell you is that I think the issue of kids who were brought to this country and here in an undocumented status through no fault of their own, who are high achievers and have much to offer us in the future, I think there's broad bipartisan support for the notion that those kids are in a different category than the vast majority of people who find themselves in this country undocumented," Rubio said.

"And if we can, we should figure out a way to accommodate them. Hopefully we can put something that Gov. Romney would be supportive of," he said.

Based on reporting by The Associated Press.

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