Marco Rubio said the terrorist attack in Orlando has "impacted" his thinking about running for his seat. Rubio pressed to run for Senate again after Orlando attack 
 
 The terrorist attack at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub has "impacted" the thinking of Marco Rubio "about a lot of things," the Florida senator said Monday, including making him "think a little bit about your service to your country and where you can be most useful to your country." 
 
 During an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Monday morning, the conservative radio host urged the former Republican presidential candidate to change his mind and seek re-election for his Senate seat. 
 
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 But as far as whether Rubio has given that any consideration, the senator declined to engage specifically on that speculation. Rubio has repeatedly ruled out running for re-election, citing on multiple occasions his support of friend Carlos Lopez-Cantera for the seat. 
 
 “Oh, you know," Rubio said, after a sigh. "I haven’t even given a thought in that perspective other than to say that I’ve been deeply impacted by it and I think when it visits your home state, when it impacts a community you know well, it really gives you pause to think a little bit about your service to your country and where you can be most useful to your country." 
 
 Rubio continued, "We live in a very dramatic moment in our history. I think we are at a tipping point here moving into the next election, irrespective of who the next president is." 
 
 "I think we’re going to face some real foreign policy challenges given some of the things both of the candidates have outlined," he continued. "So, you know, obviously I haven’t thought about it from a political perspective, but it most certainly has impacted my thinking in general, at least, about a lot of things.” 
 
 Asked whether he might reconsider, Rubio remarked that he has a "couple of things in play," including his family and friend's run for Senate. "I really don’t want to link the two things right now because I don’t want politics to intrude on all of this," he added about the shooting on Sunday morning in which 49 people were killed and at least 53 injured.. 
 
 Hewitt responded, "I understand but there are people who understand this issue. You are one of them." 
 
 "Yeah," Rubio said. "Well as I said, my family and I will be praying about all of this. And we’ll see what I need to do next with my life with regard to how I can best serve.” 
 
 "I hope it leads you to stay in the United States Senate," Hewitt said. "Very few people know this issue as you do, and I hope your service extends." 

 After heartfelt prayer, Marco Rubio will arrive at the decision that happens to dovetail with his career advancement. 
 
 As part of his run for president, Marco Rubio declared that, win or lose, he would leave his Senate seat when his term expires in January. Now that he has lost, that promise has come back to harm Rubio and his party. Rubio’s absence puts a crucial Senate seat in dire jeopardy for Republicans, and it leaves him without a suitable platform to continue his career and build a future presidential campaign. The trouble for Rubio was finding a way to get out of his promise to retire, especially since his friend Carlos Lopez-Cantera had taken him at his word and run to fill the putative vacancy. Now Rubio may have found his pretext in the form of a terrorist act, conveniently staged in his home state. 
 
 In an interview with Republican Hugh Hewitt, Rubio says the Orlando attack has given him new inspiration to hold on to his Senate seat. The full smarminess on display in this exchange has to be seen to be believed: 
 
 Hewitt: Does this horror change in any way your resolve not to seek reelection, Senator? Rubio: You know, I haven’t even given it thought in that perspective other than to say that I’ve been deeply impacted by it, and I think when it visits your home state, and it impacts a community you know well, it really gives you pause to think a little bit about, you know, your service to your country and where you can be most useful to your country. We live in a very dramatic moment in our history. I think we’re at a tipping point here moving into the next election. Irrespective of who the next president is, I think we’re going to face some real foreign policy challenges, given some of the things both of the candidates have outlined. So you know, obviously I haven’t thought about it from a political perspective, but it most certainly has impacted my thinking in general about a lot of things. Hewitt: Now that I ask, will you at least consider it again? Rubio: Well, obviously I have a couple of things in play. It’s not part of our plan as a family. And certainly wasn’t part of, I have a friend of mine who is running for the U.S. Senate. So I want to be fair, Hugh. I haven’t thought about it in that context. I really don’t want to link the two things right now, because I don’t want politics to intrude in all of this… Hewitt: I understand, but… Rubio: But suffice it to say that… Hewitt: …there are people who know this issue. You are one of them. Rubio: Yeah. Hewitt: And… Rubio: Well, as I said, my family and I will be praying about all this, and we’ll see what I need to do next with my life in regards to how I can best serve. Hewitt: Senator Rubio, I appreciate that. I hope it leads you to stay in the United States Senate. 
 
 .@marcorubio, deeply impacted by shooting, tells me he has to rethink all his plans, talk with his family, consider his service... — Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) June 13, 2016 
 
 It isn't about that Jimmy. It is about service in wartime, and he recognizes it is a war https://t.co/1fmbCKfka0 — Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) June 13, 2016 
 
 So Rubio had been planning to retire, and even 15 years after the 9/11 attacks — and a series of subsequent acts of terrorism across the globe, including a strike in San Bernardino last year — the notion that the United States faced the threat of terrorism had never impacted his thinking. Now suddenly Rubio has become aware that there’s a war. 

 Update: Right on cue, after a day in which two top Florida GOP Senate candidates, including his friend Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, said they would step aside if Rubio ran, Rubio has now indicated he will indeed reconsider his decision not to seek reelection. 
 
 "Obviously, I take very seriously everything that’s going on — not just Orlando, but in our country,” Rubio said, per PowerPost's Mike DeBonis. “I enjoy my service here a lot. So I’ll go home later this week, and I’ll have some time with my family, and then if there’s been a change in our status I’ll be sure to let everyone know.” 
 
 .@marcorubio, deeply impacted by shooting, tells me he has to rethink all his plans, talk with his family, consider his service... — Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) June 13, 2016 
 
 The original post, from Monday, follows. 
 
 Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) sounds a lot like a guy prepared to make a sharp reversal and seek reelection to the Senate after repeatedly saying no. 
 
 No, we don't have any inside information at this time. But we've been closely watching how Rubio talks over the past month about the pressure he's getting to run for reelection, and it's clear his words mark a trajectory from no way, to maybe if things were different, to it's possible. 
 
 In an interview Monday with conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt, Rubio indicated that the mass shooting in Orlando has caused him to rethink his place in this debate — and perhaps, by extension, the U.S. Senate. 
 
 "I've been deeply impacted by it," Rubio said, "... It really gives you pause to think a little bit about your service to your country and where you can be most useful to your country." 
 
 Here's what @marcorubio tells @hughhewitt about how the Orlando shooting affected him when asked if he'd run again: pic.twitter.com/AMVSmDsxMU — Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) June 13, 2016 
 
 Some will be quick to label these comments opportunism — Rubio finding an excuse to do something he wanted to anyway, despite his previous promises not to. But it's also clear that Rubio has been rethinking his decision — to one degree or another — for weeks now, and the events in his home state provide a possible tipping point for him to make that decision and feel justified in doing so. 
 
 When he launched his presidential campaign last year, Rubio thought he was forfeiting his seat. Florida doesn't allow you to appear on the ballot twice, and given it's a swing state, he wanted to clear the field for other Republicans to get in and not have to wait and see whether his presidential bid succeeded. 
 
 Now that the presidential campaign didn't work out, you can make the case that Rubio still has lots of reasons not to run: A good friend, Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, is in the race; Florida didn't even vote for him in the presidential primary; he could shore up his family's finances in the private sector; etc. 
 
 But if Rubio does reverse course, Senate Republicans would be elated. That Republican field Rubio wanted to make way for isn't panning out, and they think Rubio is the strongest candidate to help them keep the seat Republican. If Rubio's seat can stay Republican, the thinking goes, their job to keep the Senate gets a lot easier. And they've made little secret of their preference here. 
 
 [5 reasons Republicans really, really want Marco Rubio to run for reelection] 
 
 What's more, lots of Florida Republicans apparently want Rubio to reconsider, too. A recent Florida-based Mason-Dixon polling firm found that almost half of the state's voters — including 77 percent of Republicans — say Rubio should change his mind and run for reelection. 
 
 The evolution of Rubio's public thoughts on all of this suggests he's more on board with the idea than he has been at any other time since leaving the presidential race. Here's quick rundown of the evolution of what he's said about running for reelection in the past few months that now makes us think that, yes, Rubio is really getting closer to running again. 
 
 No way: 
 
 "I’m not running for reelection to the Senate," he told reporters in March, shortly after returning to the Senate from his failed presidential campaign. "I'm going to be a private citizen in January." 
 
 Unlikely: 
 
 "Unlikely," Rubio told Politico in a May 26 interview. "I don't have anything new to say from what I said in the past. ... I made that decision and I've lived by that decision. Nothing's changed." In that same interview with Politico, Rubio opened the door ever so slightly after being pressed by a reporter: "I don't think anything's going to change." 
 
 Maybe: 
 
 "Maybe," Rubio told CNN on May 29 about running — if Lopez-Cantera weren't in the race. "If there’s an opportunity to serve again in a way I’m passionate about, I'll most certainly think I would explore it," he said. “I don’t think you run for positions because they’re available," Rubio told CNN in that same interview. “You run for positions because you’re passionate about what you can contribute." 
 
 Thinking about it: 
 
 Hewitt asked Rubio on Monday: "Does this horror change anything about your resolve not to seek reelection?" 
 
 Rubio replied: "I haven't even given it thought in that perspective, other than to say I've been deeply impacted by it. And I think when it visits your home state, when it impacts a community you know really well, it really gives you pause to think a little bit about your service to your country and where you can be most useful to your country." 
 
 We'll find out in the next week or two what he ultimately decides. Florida's filing deadline is June 24.
– Everyone has had Orlando on their minds since Sunday's mass shooting, including Marco Rubio—and the attack has "deeply impacted" the senator so much that it's made him assess "a lot of things," he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt Monday morning, per Politico. The tragedy makes one "think a little bit about your service to your country and where you can be most useful," he told Hewitt, adding that the massacre hit him especially hard because it happened in his home state of Florida. He also noted that we've reached a "tipping point" of sorts as a country, which would exist no matter who the next president ends up being and that will be influenced by the "real foreign policy challenges" the US will likely face in the coming years. All of which led Hewitt to finally push Rubio—who's said multiple times he won't re-up his Senate seat—to run for re-election. And that's something that's crossed the minds of Florida GOPers: A recent Mason-Dixon poll found 77% of the state's Republican voters want him to seek re-election, per the Washington Post. But Rubio (mostly) deflected Hewitt's prodding, saying that he has "a couple of things in play" that are occupying his mind these days (including spending time with his family and supporting his friend Carlos Lopez-Cantera to take his place in the Senate) and that "I really don't want to link the two things right now because I don't want politics to intrude on all of this." And the Post notes his support for Lopez-Cantera, opportunities in the private sector, and the fact that he lost his own state's primary are all good reasons to stay put. Jonathan Chait, meanwhile, is more cynical about the Rubio-Hewitt conversation, writing for the Intelligencer that it seems disingenuous that Rubio "suddenly" discovered there's a war on terrorism and that he's just now reacting to it and considering other options.