Look out J.D. Vance; the Republican Party bench is looking stronger than ever. Meanwhile...Kamala Harris.

[U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the World Economic Forum last month. (Photo:

While the Democratic Party continues to groan under the weight of the absence of strong leadership, the Republican Party bench is looking stronger than ever.

In addition to Vice President J.D. Vance, President Donald Trump's would-be heir apparent, there are other leaders in the GOP who aren't to be overlooked.

Experienced, measured, famously cool-headed, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has distinguished himself over decades of public service. His affirmation to Trump's cabinet was a moment of rare, unified bipartisanship. He is popular in his home state, and has proved to be an extremely effective Secretary of State. 

During his recent trip to Munich, Sec. Rubio was in rare form. Though he was diplomatic, Rubio delivered a sharp rebuke to EU leaders who have grew so complacent as to allow Ukraine to be invaded by Russia.

"We gather here today as members of a historic alliance, an alliance that saved and changed the world," Sec. Rubio began in a fiery speech. "When this conference began in 1963, it was in a nation – actually, it was on a continent – that was divided against itself. The line between communism and freedom ran through the heart of Germany. The first barbed fences of the Berlin Wall had gone up just two years prior."

"And just months before that first conference, before our predecessors first met here, here in Munich, the Cuban Missile Crisis had brought the world to the brink of nuclear destruction," Sec. Rubio reminded his audience. "Even as World War II still burned fresh in the memory of Americans and Europeans alike, we found ourselves staring down the barrel of a new global catastrophe – one with the potential for a new kind of destruction, more apocalyptic and final than anything before in the history of mankind."

"At the time of that first gathering, Soviet communism was on the march," recalled Rubio. "Thousands of years of Western civilization hung in the balance. At that time, victory was far from certain. But we were driven by a common purpose. We were unified not just by what we were fighting against; we were unified by what we were fighting for. And together, Europe and America prevailed and a continent was rebuilt. Our people prospered. In time, the East and West blocs were reunited. A civilization was once again made whole."

"That infamous wall that had cleaved this nation into two came down, and with it an evil empire, and the East and West became one again," Rubio alluded. "Out the euphoria of this triumph led us to a dangerous delusion: that we had entered, quote, 'the end of history.' That every nation would now be a liberal democracy; that the ties formed by trade and by commerce alone would now replace nationhood; that the rules-based global order – an overused term – would now replace the national interest; and that we would now live in a world without borders where everyone became a citizen of the world."

"This was a foolish idea that ignored both human nature and it ignored the lessons of over 5,000 years of recorded human history," Rubio chastised the security council. "And it has cost us dearly. In this delusion, we embraced a dogmatic vision of free and unfettered trade, even as some nations protected their economies and subsidized their companies to systematically undercut ours – shuttering our plants, resulting in large parts of our societies being deindustrialized, shipping millions of working and middle-class jobs overseas, and handing control of our critical supply chains to both adversaries and rivals."

"We increasingly outsourced our sovereignty to international institutions while many nations invested in massive welfare states at the cost of maintaining the ability to defend themselves," complained Rubio. "This, even as other countries have invested in the most rapid military buildup in all of human history and have not hesitated to use hard power to pursue their own interests. To appease a climate cult, we have imposed energy policies on ourselves that are impoverishing our people, even as our competitors exploit oil and coal and natural gas and anything else – not just to power their economies, but to use as leverage against our own."

"And in a pursuit of a world without borders, we opened our doors to an unprecedented wave of mass migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies, the continuity of our culture, and the future of our people," said Rubio. "We made these mistakes together, and now, together, we owe it to our people to face those facts and to move forward, to rebuild."

"Under President Trump, the United States of America will once again take on the task of renewal and restoration, driven by a vision of a future as proud, as sovereign, and as vital as our civilization’s past," he added. "And while we are prepared, if necessary, to do this alone, it is our preference and it is our hope to do this together with you, our friends here in Europe."

"For the United States and Europe, we belong together. America was founded 250 years ago, but the roots began here on this continent long before," he remarked. "The man who settled and built the nation of my birth arrived on our shores carrying the memories and the traditions and the Christian faith of their ancestors as a sacred inheritance, an unbreakable link between the old world and the new."

"We are part of one civilization – Western civilization," he said. "We are bound to one another by the deepest bonds that nations could share, forged by centuries of shared history, Christian faith, culture, heritage, language, ancestry, and the sacrifices our forefathers made together for the common civilization to which we have fallen heir."

"And so this is why we Americans may sometimes come off as a little direct and urgent in our counsel," Rubio went on. "This is why President Trump demands seriousness and reciprocity from our friends here in Europe. The reason why, my friends, is because we care deeply. We care deeply about your future and ours. And if at times we disagree, our disagreements come from our profound sense of concern about a Europe with which we are connected – not just economically, not just militarily. We are connected spiritually and we are connected culturally. We want Europe to be strong. We believe that Europe must survive, because the two great wars of the last century serve for us as history’s constant reminder that ultimately, our destiny is and will always be intertwined with yours, because we know – (applause) – because we know that the fate of Europe will never be irrelevant to our own."

And while Sec. Marco Rubio wows overseas, back at home, things are less promising for Democratic Party candidates hoping to vie for the Oval Office in 2028.

Former Vice President and 2024 also-ran Kamala Harris has refused to rule out a second run. In addition, and even more worryingly for progressives, she has rebranded her online offerings. And voting Democrats aren't overly impressed.

And then there is California Governor Gavin Newsom. Newsom certainly looks presidential, talks like a politician, and has plenty of powerful friends. He would be a serious threat if California were prospering.

But it's not. 

The Democratic Party might want to consider other candidates.

Meanwhile, Republican Party choices abound.

(Contributing writer, Brooke Bell)