Author of 'Clinton Cash' gives Marco Rubio a thumbs up

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Author Peter Schweizer isn't easy on presidential candidates.

His new book targets Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton and donations made to her foundation by foreign governments while she was Secretary of State. The conservative writer also is taking aim at former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a potential GOP presidential candidate whose financial dealings Schweizer says he is investigating.

But Schweizer assures he’s not averse to all politicians, or people running for president. He particularly treasures one quality in would-be presidents – optimism, and a Ronald Reaganesque ability to make people feel hopeful about the future.

The winner in that race, Schweizer says, is hands-down Sen. Marco Rubio, the Florida Republicans who launched his campaign in April.

"To the extent that anybody is trying to fit that mold and projects that, it's Marco Rubio," Schweizer said in an interview with Politico. "That would be my assessment, the way he did the campaign roll-out and his themes."

Rubio announced that he was running at an iconic Miami landmark that served as a government processing center for Cuban refugees fleeing the Castro regime. His speech touted the United States as a country that gave his parents, a maid and a bartender, a chance at a new, better life.

Reagan, Schweizer said, "had a way of conveying anger or criticizing but doing it with a smile."

Political observers noted the way that Rubio, who announced his candidacy a day after Clinton did hers, portrayed her as a politician of yesteryear – a thinly veiled reference, many thought, to her age.

“If your basic position is ‘everything’s going to heck in a handbasket, we can’t do anything about it,’ that’s going to throw a lot of people off. So I do think the optimism will be there,” Schweizer said. “The question is: Is that optimism backed up by real boldness? Because if you aren’t an optimist and you feel like we are struggling or facing challenges, it’s bold change that’s going to be required.”

“You don’t want a grinder as president,” Schweizer said. “You don’t want somebody who’s doom and gloom.”

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