Pachyderm Club speaker Zach Wamp poses with local Republicans after talk
photo by Emmett Gienapp
Following a Twitter announcement by presidential candidate Senator Marco Rubio earlier on Monday morning, former Tennessee Congressman Zach Wamp confirmed that he will be the chairman of the Rubio campaign in Tennessee.
In his address to the Pachyderm Club, Mr. Wamp said that he is in full support of Senator Rubio as a viable candidate who is capable of capitalizing on changing voter demographics in the nation for the good of both the Republican Party and the nation over all.
Referencing an article he wrote for The Hill, on June 17, he said that the single most deciding factor for the GOP candidates this election cycle will be “whether the voters view his or her candidacy through the windshield or the rearview mirror.”
He also said, “The future of our party has to be about where are we going, and who are speaking to, and awareness of who is voting and participating in the process because it is changing before our very eyes.”
Mr.
Wamp further said that the millennial and Hispanic votes will dominate the 2016 general election and that Senator Marco Rubio can appeal to both groups. This is becoming increasingly important as 16-18 percent of the vote is made up of millennials - individuals under 35 years of age and members of the largest generation in U.S. history, he said.
He said that letting that voting bloc get away from the Republican Party will guarantee that the party is “shellacked” in all 50 states during the election. He said that is just the reality of the situation and even though millennials don’t typically vote in off-seasons or primaries, he is unwilling to put up another Republican candidate just to have them defeated in the general election.
According to the former representative, Senator Rubio is the most viable presidential candidate partly because he is a young Cuban-American and he will not struggle nearly as much as some of the other candidates to rally support and cast a vision for the future.
Mr. Wamp also said that Senator Rubio has a solid, even traditional family that is attractive and will encourage voters to gravitate toward him.
Concerning current issues, he said Senator Rubio will not needlessly intervene in foreign affairs, but he also “won’t sit back, sing kumbaya, and expect the threats of the world to go away.”
He compared the potential for Senator Rubio’s campaign to that of President Ronald Reagan’s in 1980, saying that this is the first real opportunity to replicate the level of momentum for the Republican candidate that was seen in that campaign.
Peter Garcia and Gustavo Veralo, two board members of Latinos for Tennessee were in attendance at the Pachyderm Club meeting as well to show their support for Senator Rubio and Mr. Wamp in his new role.
Mr. Garcia, who is also a former schoolmate of Senator Rubio’s during his time at South Miami Senior High School, said “I’m excited. It’s a strong, strong position that we’re going to have as Latinos, as a country, and as Americans.”