The Republican
presidential contenders have often criticized Marco Rubio for
shirking Senate votes and committee meetings to campaign. But the senator who was
the most active on Capitol Hill came from the other side of the aisle.
Bernie Sanders has given 37 speeches on the senate floor this year, far more than any other presidential contender, according to a recent C-SPAN tally. Rand Paul clocked the most roll call votes. With 319 votes, he narrowly edged out Sanders, who attended 311. Paul gave just 13 speeches.
Rubio was at the bottom of the pack. He attended only 219 votes and gave 8 speeches, less than any other candidate.
In light of his lackluster attendance, the Sun Sentinel, a Florida paper that has previously endorsed Rubio, called for the senator to step down from Congress this fall. “You are paid $174,000 per year to represent us, to fight for us, to solve our problems,” its editorial board wrote in October. “You are ripping us off, senator.”
In recent days, Rand Paul has latched on to these critiques. His campaign launched an ad Monday entitled “Where in the World is Marco Rubio?”